On prayer and the contemplative life

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S. Thomas Aquinas

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ON PRAYER AND THE
CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE

BY

S. THOMAS AQUINAS

BY THE

VERY REV. HUGH POPE, O.P., S.T.M.

AUTHOR OF " THE CATHOLIC STUDENT'S ' AIDS ' TO THE BIBLE," ETC.

WITH A PREFACE BY
VERY REV. VINCENT McNABB, O.P., S.T.L.

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R. Sc T. WASHBOURNE, LTD.
PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

AND AT MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND GLASGOW
igiA All rights re sen'ed

FEB 1 •: id52

^^ihil ©bstat.

J. P. ARENDZEN, D.D..

Censor Deputatus.

imjjvtmutuv.

EDM. CAN. SURMONT,

ViCARius Generalis.

WtSTMONASTEKII,

Dii- 20 Sel^h-mbi is. 1913.

Te Trina Deltas unaque poscimus
Sic nos Tu visita, sicut Te colimus :
Per Tuas semitas due nos quo tendimus.
Ad lucem, quam inhabitas !"

S. Thomas's Hymn for Matins on the
Feast cf Corpus Christi.

PREFACE

The present generation in the fervour of its re-
pentance is like to cast off too much. So many
false principles and hasty deductions have been
offered to its parents and grandparents in the
name of science that it is becoming unduly sus-
picious of the scientific method.

A century ago men's minds were sick unto death
from too much science and too little mysticism.
To-day the danger is that even the drawing-rooms
are scented with a mysticism that anathematizes
science.

At no time since the days of S. Thomas was the
saint's scientific method more lacking. Every-
where there is need for a mystic doctrine, which in
itself is neither hypnotism nor hysteria, and in its
expression is neither superlative nor apostrophic,
lest the hungered minds of men die of surfeit
following on starvation.

The message and method of S. Thomas are part

of that strange rigidity of the thirteenth century

which is one of the startling paradoxes of the ages

of faith. It is surely a consolation that these ages

of a faith which moved mountains, or at least

essayed to remove the Turk, were minded to

vii

viii Preface

express their beliefs in the coat of mail of human
reason 1 The giants of those days, who in the
sphere of literature were rediscovering verse and
nventing rhyme, and who in every sphere of
knowledge were bringing forth the sixteenth and
nineteenth centuries, were not so blinded by the
white light of vision as to disown the Greeks.
They made the Ethics of Aristotle the four-square
walls of the city of God; they expressed the
mysteries of the Undivided Three in terms of the
Syllogism. Thus they refused to cut themselves
off from the aristocracy of human genius. They
laid hands — but not violent hands — on the heritage
of the ages. No philosophers have ever equalled
their bold and lowly-minded profession of faith in
the solidarity of human reason For this cause
S. Thomas, who is their spokesman, has now
become an absolute necessity of thought. Unless
the great Dumb Ox is given a hearing, our mysti-
cism will fill, not the churches, but the asylums
and the little self-authorized Bethels where every
man is his own precursor and messiah.

That S. Thomas is to be accepted as a master
of mysticism may be judged from the following
facts in the Hfe of a mystic of the mystics, S. John
of the Cross :

" It has been recorded that during his studies he
particularly relished psychology; this is amply
borne out by his writings. S. John was not what
one could term a scholar. He was, however, in-
timately acquainted with the Snmma of S. Thomas
Aquinas, as almost every page of his works proves.
... He does not seem to have ever applied himself

Preface

IX

to the study of the Fathers As has already been

stated, the whole work {The Ascent of Mount
Carmel) is based upon the view S. Thomas
Aquinas takes of the essence and operations of the
senses and of the faculties of the soul, and upon
his treatise on the virtues."^

S. Thomas hardly needs an imprimatur after
six centuries of full trust. But in the hard matters
of mysticism, which he has treated as a scholar
should, it is reassuring to know that he has the
approval, not only of the scholars, but of the mystics .

VINCENT McNABB, O.P.

^ The Ascent of Mount Carmel by S. John of the Cross.
Prefatory Essay oii the Development of Mysticism in the
Carmelite Order, by Benedict Zimmerman, O.C.D., pp. 13-17-
(London: Tlioraas Baker, igo6.)

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION ------ i

QUESTION LXXXI

OF THE VIRTUE OF RELIGION - - - - 27

QUESTION LXXXII

OF DEVOTION - - - - - "51

QUESTION LXXXIII

OF PRAYER - - - - - - '66

SUPPLEMENT— QUESTION LXXII

OF THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS WHO ARE IN HEAVEN I52

QUESTION CLXXIX

i OF THE DIVISION OF LIFE INTO THE ACTIVE AND THE

CONTEMPLATIVE ----- jgg

QUESTION CLXXX

OF THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE - - . - I78

\

QUESTION CLXXXI

F THE ACTIVE LIFE - - - _ _ 220

xi

\

xii Contents

QUESTION CLXXXII

PAGE

OF THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND THE

CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE - - - -233

QUESTION CLXXXVI

ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE . . - - 253

INDEX

258

INDEX OF TEXTS QUOTED OR EXPLAINED - - 270

/

ON PRAYER AND
THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE

INTRODUCTION

The pages which follow call for little introduction.
S. Thomas has left us no formal treatise on Mystical
Theology, though his teachings on this subject have
been collected from his various works and com-
bined to form such a treatise. Especially note-
worthy is the work of the Spanish Dominican Val-
gornera.^ No such synthesis has been attempted
here. We have simply taken from the Summa
Theologica the treatises on Religion, on Devotion,
Prayer, and the Contemplative Life, and presented
them in an English dress. When occasion offered
we have added to each portion appropriate pas-
sages from S. Augustine, S. Thomas's master, and
more rarely from the Commentary on the Summa
by the illustrious Cardinal Cajetan.

And we have been led to do this for several
reasons. The Mystical life is the life of union
with God, and it is based essentially on Prayer and
Contemplation. But prayer and contemplation,

* Valgornera, O.P., Mystica Theologia D. ThomcB, ed. Berthier.
2 Vols. Turin, 1890-91.

I

2 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

though simple in themselves, are yet fraught
with difficulties and dangers unless we be wisely
guided. And as Father Faber shrewdly says :
when we ask for instruction in these things, let
us by all means make appeal to those whose names
begin with S — let us, in other words, go to God's
Saints. And the reason is simple : these .Saints
are no mere idle sign-posts who point the way but
stand still themselves ; they themselves have been
where they would have us go ; they speak from no
mere theoretical knowledge ; they themselves have
tasted and seen that the Lord is sweet 1

Further, it would have been easy to cull from
S. Thomas's writings the salient points of his
teaching on these points, and to have presented
them in an attractive form. But had we done so
the teachings of the Saint would have lost much of
their force, and readers might well have doubted
at times whether they really had before them the
mind of S. Thomas or that of the translator. It is
preferable to read the Bible than what men have
said about the Bible. Unfortunately, it is the
fashion nowadays to consider S. Thomas's writings
" out of date "! If the perusal of these pages shall
have induced some few at least to go to the original
and study it for themselves they will have more
than fulfilled the translator's desires.

Another reason which has weighed much with
the translator and encouraged him to undertake
this task has been the suddenly awakened interest
in Mysticism and Mystical studies during the last
decade. It has become the fashion to talk about
Mysticism, even to pose as Mystics, and — need it

Introduction 3

be said ? — those who talk the most on such sub-
jects are those who know the least. For those
who have entered into the secret of the King are
ever the most reticent on such matters. At the
same time we may welcome this recent develop-
ment, if only as a set-off against the Spiritualism
and occultism which have played such havoc with
souls during a space of over fifty years. The
human soul, " naturally Christian," as Tertullian
would say, is also naturally Divine in the sense
that, as S. Augustine so often insists, no rest is
possible for it save in God. Now those who are
familiar with the Summa Theologica are aware that
Union with God is its keynote, or rather is the
dominant note which rings out clear again and
again with its ever-repeated Sursum Cor da ! It
is this that gives such special value to the treatises
here presented on Prayer and the Contemplative
Life. They flow from the pen of one who was
literally steeped in God and Divine things, and
who is speaking to us of things which he had him-
self tasted and seen. It is this that gives such
simplicity and charm to the whole of his teaching.
He is not experimenting ; he is not speaking of
theories ; he is portraying to us what was his
everyday life.

Perhaps one of the commonest errors regarding
the Spiritual life is the confusion between the
ordinary and the extraordinary ways of God. For
how many does not the Contemplative Life mean
the life of ecstasy and vision with which we are
famihar in the lives of the Saints ? For S. Thomas,
on the contrary, the Contemplative Life is but the

4 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

natural life of a man who is serving God and who
devotes a certain portion of his time to the study
and contemplation of Divine things. Ecstasy and'
vision he treats of in another place. They occupy
a sphere apart. They belong to God's extra-
ordinary dealings with favoured souls, and while
they presuppose prayer and contemplation on the
part of those so visited they themselves form no
integral part of the Contemplative Life ; indeed,
they are the exception. Hence in these pages we
shall find nought touching Supernatural manifesta-
tions, such as visions, ecstasies, and revelations ;
but we shall find what is of far greater use to us —
a Catechism on Devotion, Prayer, and Contempla-
tion.

« » « « «

The main features of the Life of S. Thomas of
Aquin are known to most of those who are likely
to read this book. His hfe at first sight seems of
such an even tenor that there is but little to record.
Yet when we penetrate beneath the surface we
realize that he lived in stirring days, and that his
short span of fifty years was passed in the full light
of the world of the thirteenth century. Thomas
was born in the beginning of the year 1225 in the
castle of Rocca-Secca, the ancestral home of the
Counts of Aquino, in the kingdom of Sicily. His
future glory was foretold to his mother, the Coun-
tess Theodora, by a hermit of that neighbourhood
who also foretold that his parents would endeavour
to make him a monk in the Benedictine Abbey of
Monte Cassino, but that God had other designs for
him, since he was to be a Friar Preacher, a member

Introduction 5

of the Order of the great S. Dominic who had just
gone to his reward. The prophecy was fulfilled to
the letter. At the early age of five years he was
sent to the Abbey to be educated among the young
nobles of the day, as was then the custom. Even
thus early he showed a remarkable maturity of
character, and his biographer, William of Tocco,
dwells with delight on the calm reserve of his
childish days and on that eager seeking after God
which was to be his future glory. ^

From Monte Cassino Thomas passed to Naples
to complete his studies. Here he became con-
scious of his vocation, and offered himself to the
Dominicans. The Prior of the convent at Naples
at that time was Father John of S. Julian, who
later became Patriarch of Jerusalem^ ; he gave the
habit of the Order to Thomas, who was then but
fourteen years of age. His parents were indignant
at this step, and did all in their power to shake his
determination. Fearing their recourse to the violent
methods then so common, the Dominicans sent
Thomas to the convent of Santa Sabina at Rome.
But S. Thomas's brothers, at their mother's bidding,
seized upon the young man and carried him off in

^ " In astate tam tenera et scibilium nescia, qui necdum
se scire poterat, miro modo Deum adhuc nesciens, divino
ductus instinctu scire quserebat. De quo futurum erat, ut,
dum sic anxius maturius Deum prae aliis quaereret, clarius
prag ceteris, quae scire futurus erat, scriberet, quae de Deo,
ipso donante, studiosius et citius inveniret " (William of
Tocco, Vita B. Thomce in the Bollandists, Maixh 7, No. 5).
This William of Tocco had seen and heard S. Thomas, and in
1 3 19 took a prominent part in the Saint's canonization (see
Bollandists, p. 653).

2 Bernard Guidonis, Boll., No. 7, p. 659, note.

6 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

his religious habit to his mother who kept him
imprisoned for nearly two years.^ During this
time of anxiety nothing disturbed the Saint's
equanimity, and he made good use of his time by
studying the Bible, the Book of the Sentences — the
Theological Manual of those days — and also Aris-
totle's philosophical treatises. It was at this time
that the diaboHcal attempt upon his virtue was
made — an attempt which the Saint resisted effec-
tually ; in reward for his constancy he was miracu-
lously girded with a cincture by two Angels from
Heaven.^ Faihng in their attempt to shake his
determination, his brothers permitted him to
escape, and he returned to the convent at Naples
in 1245. Thence he was sent by his superiors to
Rome, and shortly afterwards to Paris and Cologne
to study under Blessed Albert the Great. At
Cologne he lead the life of a simple student, a life
of recollection, prayer, and study. But his extra-
ordinary talents could not long remain hid. The
post of Bachelor in the famous House of Studies at
Paris was vacant, and at the suggestion of Cardinal
Hugo a S. Caro, himself a Dominican, S. Thomas
was appointed by the Master-General of the Order
to the vacant post. This was a blow to the Saint's
humility, but he accepted it under obedience. The
impression made by his teaching was extraordinary,
and the words of William of Tocco on this point are
worth transcribing : " Erat enim novos in sua lec-
tione movens articulos, novum modum et clarum
determinandi inveniens, et novas reducens in
determinationibus rationes : ut nemo qui ipsum
* Boll., Nos. 12 and 76. ^ Ibid., No. 11.

Introduction 7

audisset nova docere, et novis rationibus dubia
definire dubitaret, quod eum Deus novi luminis
radiis illustrasset, qui statim tarn certi coepisset
esse judicii, ut non dubitaret novas opiniones
docere et scribere, quas Deus dignatus esset
noviter inspirare." This novelty in method was
evidently remarkable, but, while provoking the
attacks of some, it attracted an immense crowd to
his lectures, and this not simply by reason of the
novelty which characterized them, but by reason
of the supereminent sanctity of the teacher. " Di-
lectus Deo !" cries out his biographer. " Qui scien-
tiam tribuit ; et acceptus hominibus, quibus quasi
novis radiis veritatis illuxit."^

In 1253 or 1254 Thomas was, again much against
his will, created Master in Sacred Theology, and the
remaining twenty years of his life were wholly
devoted to teaching, studying, and preaching,
whether at Paris or at Naples. Dignities and
honours were frequently offered him, but he suc-
ceeded in avoiding them all. He felt that his
vocation was to study and teach. And since his
teaching was to be of things Divine, he felt that
he must needs be absorbed in such things, and that
his life must be wholly spent with God. This
feature of his life is insisted on by his biographers :
" Men ever saw him of joyful mien, gentle and
sweet, not occupying himself with worldly affairs,
but ever given to study, to reading, to writing, and
to prayer for the enlightening of the faithful."^
Thus we are told that when Brother Reginald,
who had been Blessed Thomas's companion, re-
1 Boll., p. 66i. 2 7t^-^_^ p_ 552.

8 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

turned from Fossa Nuova to Naples after the
Master's death to resume the lectures he had been
giving there, he burst into tears as he stood before
the Brethren, and said : " Brothers, I was forbidden
by my Master to reveal during his life the marvels
I had seen. One of those marvels was that his
knowledge, which so wondrously surpassed that of
other men, was not due to any human skill, but to
the merits of his prayers. For whenever he would
study, or dispute, or read, or write, or dictate, he
would first betake himself to prayer in secret, and
there with many tears would implore light where-
with to search rightly into the secret things of God .
And by the merits of such prayer it came to pass
that, whereas previous to his prayer he had been
in doubt about the subject of his study, he always
returned from it illumined. And when any doubt-
ful point occurred to him before he had had re-
course to prayer, he went to pray, and what had
previously been obscure was then Divinely made
clear to him."^

Truly characteristic of our Saint are those three
petitions he was wont to make : that he might
never learn to love things of earth ; that he might
never change his state of life ; that God would
reveal to him the state of his brother Reginald,
who had been put to death, unjustly, as Thomas
thought, by the Emperor Frederic. All three peti-
tions were granted, two of them, as he himself told
Brother Reginald on his deathbed, by the Blessed
Virgin herself. " She appeared to him," says
William of Tocco, " and assured him regarding his

1 Boll., p. 668.

Introduction 9

life and his knowledge, promised him, too, that
God would grant him whatsoever he should ask
through her intercession, and told him, moreover,
that he would never change his state of life."^

The following story is well known, but is too
illustrative of the Saint's character to be omitted :
A dispute had arisen in the University of Paris
regarding the Accidents of the Holy Eucharist, and
the Doctors of the University decided to leave the
decision with S. Thomas. The responsibihty was
great, but the Saint according to his custom betook
himself to prayer and then wrote his answer to the
difficulty. " But since he would not dare," says
William of Tocco, " to expound his opinion in the
Schools before the Masters of the University with-
out first consulting Him of Whom he was treating
and to Whom he had prayed that he might teach
correctly, he came to the altar and there spread
out the pages he had written before Him ; then,
lifting up his hands to the Crucifix, he prayed and
said : ' O Lord Jesus Christ, Who art most truly
contained in this wondrous Sacrament and Who as
Supreme Artificer ever wondrously workest, I seek
to understand Thee in this Sacrament and to teach
truly concerning Thee. Wherefore I humbly pray
Thee that if what I have written spring from Thee,
and be true concerning Thee, then Thou wouldest
enable me to declare it and clearly expound it.
But if I have written ought which is not in harmony
with Thy Faith and which accords not with the
Mysteries of this Sacrament, then I pray Thee that
nought may proceed from my mouth which deviates

* Boll., pp. 668 and 710.

10 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

from the Catholic Faith.' Then those who watched
saw on a sudden Christ standing before the Saint
and on the paper he had written, and they heard
Him say : ' Well hast thou written of Me in this
Sacrament of My Body, and well and truly hast
thou answered the question put to thee, as far,
that is, as it can be understood by man in this life,
or expressed in human words.' "^

And it was ever the same throughout his life : in
God he sought God. Hence his incessant medita-
tion on the Holy Scriptures ; hence his diligent
study of the writings of the Fathers of the Church.
" Master," said a band of his students to him as
they looked on Paris spread before them — " Master,
see what a lovely city Paris is ! Would you not
hke to be its owner ?" And with a Saint's sim-
pHcity he replied : " Far rather would I have the
Homilies of Chrysostom on S. Matthew ! For if
this city were mine then the task of governing it
would take me away from the contemplation of
things Divine and deprive my soul of its consola-
tions !"^

And his companion Reginald has told us how he
studied to know the things of God. For he tells
us that when the Saint was occupied with his Com-
mentary on Isaias and could not arrive at any
satisfactory explanation of a certain passage he
gave himself up to fasting and prayer. Then one
night Reginald heard voices in the Saint's cell, and
whilst he wondered what this might mean at that
hour, S.Thomas came to him and said : " Reginald,
get up, light a candle, and take the book in which

1 Boll., No. 53. * Ibid., p. 671.

Introduction ii

you have been writing upon Isaias and make ready
to write once more." Then Reginald wrote whilst
the Saint dictated as though he were reading out
of a book, with such faciHty did he speak. And
then, at Reginald's insistent petition, he said to
him : " My son, you have seen the affliction under
which I have been of late owing to this passage of
Isaias which I have just been expounding, and you
know how I besought God with tears that I might
understand it. God, then, this very night had pity
upon me, and sent His Blessed Apostles Peter and
Paul whom I had prayed to intercede for me, and
they have most fully explained it all !"^ How
gladly would one know what passage of Isaias it
was which was thus Divinely interpreted !

And so this truly marvellous life went on till the
end drew near. Day by day he ascended the steps
of the altar, his face bathed in tears ; day by day
he returned to his work more and more illumined
regarding the Mysterium Fidei, and with his soul
still more closely knit to its Maker. His ecstasies
became more frequent, and in one of these he was
told that the close of his life was at hand. For it
was at San Severino, not far from Salerno, that he
fell into so prolonged an ecstasy that his sister who
was present appealed to Reginald to know what had
happened to her brother. Even Reginald was
astonished. " He is frequently rapt in spirit,"
he said, " but never before have I seen him thus
abstracted !" " Then," says William of Tocco,
" Master Reginald went to him, and, plucking him
by the cloak, roused him from this deep sleep of

1 Boll., p. 668.

12 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

contemplation. But he sighed and said : ' My son
Reginald, I tell thee in secret, and I forbid thee to
reveal it to anyone during my life, the close of my
writing has come ; for such things have been re-
vealed to me that all I have written and taught
seems to me of small account. Hence I hope in
my God that as there is an end to my writing, so
too will speedily come the end of my life.' "^

And S. Thomas was ready for the end, for not
long previously, when he was in the convent at
Naples and was praying in the Church, there ap-
peared to him Brother Romanus, whom he had
left teaching at Paris. Brother Thomas said to
him : " Welcome ! Whence dost thou come ?"
But Romanus said to him : " I have passed from
this life, and I am allowed to come to thee by
reason of thy merits." Then Brother Thomas,
summoning up his courage, for he had been much
disturbed by the sudden apparition, said to him :
" If it be pleasing to God, I adjure you by God to
answer my questions. First : How does it stand
with me? and are my works pleasing to God?"
And the other answered : " Thou art in a good
state, and thy works are pleasing to God." Then
the Master continued : " And what of thyself?"
And Romanus answered : " I am in Eternal Life,
but I was in Purgatory sixteen days because of
some negligence of which I was guilty in the affair
of a will which the Bishop of Paris entrusted to
me for speedy execution ; but I, through mine own
fault, was tardy in executing it." Lastly S. Thomas
asked : " What about that question we have so

1 BolL, p. 672.

Introduction 13

often discussed together : Do the habits we have
acquired here abide v/ith us when we are in our
Fatherland ?" But the other repHed : " Brother
Thomas, I see God, and you must ask me nought
further on that question." But Thomas at once
said : " Since you see God, tell me whether you see
Him with or without any intermediate image?"
But Romanus replied : "As we have heard, so we
have seen in the City of our God,"^ and forthwith
disappeared. But the Master remained aston-
ished at that marvellous and unwonted apparition,
and filled with joy at his favourable rephes. " O
Blessed Teacher 1" ejaculates WilHam of Tocco,
who has left us this account, " to whom Heaven's
secrets were thus famihar, to whom Heaven's
citizens came with such sweet famiHarity to lead
him to those heavenly shores !"^

Nor was this the only warning. For just as in
earlier years at Paris he had received Divine com-
mendation for his writings, so now again at Naples.
For Brother Dominic of Caserta tells us that at
Naples he watched S. Thomas praying at night.
He saw him, he says, absorbed in prayer, and then
hfted up into the air about the height of two cubits
from the ground. And whilst for a long space he
marvelled at this, he suddenly heard this voice from
the Crucifix : " Thomas, well hast thou written of
Me ! What reward wilt thou have from Me for all
thy labour ?" But he rephed : " Lord, none save
Thyself 1 " At that time the Saint was engaged upon
the Third Part of the Summa, and was treating of
the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. But after
1 Ps. xlvii. 2 Boll., p. 672.

14 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

arriving at that point he wrote but Httle more by
reason of the marvels that God had wondrously
revealed to him.^

Since his soul, then, was thus united to God it is
small wonder the Brethren saw him rapt in ecstasy
and with his face bathed in tears as he stood in choir
and sang the Antiphon wont to be sung according
to the Dominican Office for Compline during Lent :
" Ne projicias nos in tempore senectutis : cum
defecerit virtus nostra, ne derelinquas nos Domine."^
In the year 1274 the Saint was summoned by
Pope Gregory X. to the Council about to be held
at Lyons. He set out, taking with him his Treatise
against the Errors of the Greek Schismatics, for the
great question which the Pope had at heart was
the settlement of the Schism between the East and
the West. But the Council was never to see
Thomas, for he fell ill when traversing the Cam-
pagna, and though he was able to reach the Cis-
tercian Abbey of Fossa Nuova he reached it only
to die. " This is my rest for ever and ever," he said
as he entered the gates. " Here will I dwell, for I
have chosen it:' And here, as he lay dying, he
expounded to the monks who stood round that
most sublime of all the Books of the Bible, the
Canticle of Canticles : ** Behold, my Beloved speaketh
to me : Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my
beautiful one, and come. . . . I sleep, and my heart
watcheth ; the voice of my Beloved Who is knocking !
. . . My Beloved to me and I to Him Who feedeth
among the lilies : till the Day break and the shadows
retire /"

1 Boll., p. C69. 2 ji)i(i., p. 667 ; cp. Ps. Ixx. 20.

Introduction 15

As the time of his summons drew on he asked
for the Holy Viaticum. And, in the words of
WilHam of Tocco, " when It was brought with
devout reverence by the Abbot and the monks,
he prostrated himself on the ground, weak indeed
in body but mighty in spirit, and so came to meet
his Lord with tears."

And when the priest asked him — as it is the cus-
tom to ask all Christians at death touching their
faith in this mighty Sacrament — whether he be-
lieved that That Consecrated Host was the True
Son of God, Who came forth from the Virgin's
womb, Who hung upon the tree of the Cross, Who
died for us and rose again on the third day : — with
clear voice, with full attention, and with tears, he
repHed : " If fuller knowledge than that of faith
could be had in this Hfe touching this Sacrament,
in that knowledge I reply that I believe it to be true,
and that I know for certain that This is True God
and Man, the Son of God the Father and of the
Virgin Mother : so I believe in my heart and so I
confess in word." After some other devout ex-
pressions he received the Sacred Host, and then
said : " I receive Thee, the Price of my soul's
redemption, for love of Whom I have studied,
watched, and toiled ; Thee have I preached and
taught ; nought contrary to Thee have I ever said,
neither do I obstinately hold to any opinion of
mine own. If, however, I have said ought wrongly
concerning this Sacrament, I submit it all to the
correction of the Holy Roman Church in Whose
obedience I now pass from this life !" " O
Blessed Teacher 1 who ran so swiftly in the race,

1 6 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

who fought so manfully in the strife, who could
so well say with the Apostle : ' / have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ;
as for the rest there is laid up for me a crown of
justice '; and such indeed had he truly won by his
study of inspired doctrine."^

O Sancte Thoma !

Scholarum Patrone,

Fidem invictam,

Charitatem fervidam,

Vitam castissimam,

Scientiam veram,

A Deo nobis obtine.

Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

No one who is at all familiar with the writings of
S. Thomas can be surprised to find many extracts
from S. Augustine in the following pages. For
Augustine and Thomas are one. Their respective
styles are different, but their thoughts and teach-
ings are the same on the great essential points of
theological teaching. Cardinal Aguirre has well
said : " Owing to the clearness and acuteness of
his angelic mind S. Thomas sheds a flood of light
on many most obscure matters, and brings out
very clearly even the most profound teachings
contained in the works of the Fathers, especially
in those of S. Augustine. I speak simply from my
own experience, but I am certain that many another
has felt the same : in controverted matters, if we
look merely at the text of S. Augustine, we are

» Boll, p. 675.

Introduction 17

brought face to face with a flood of difficulties
which seem well-nigh insoluble ; but the difficulty-
disappears and the solution becomes clear the
moment we set to work to find out what was
S. Thomas's teaching on the question ; for he is the
surest and the easiest interpreter of S. Augustine."^

And indeed Augustine is a deep well ! " Man
shall come to a deep heart /" he was fond of saying,
and those words of the Psalmist might stand for a
motto at the head of his works. Traditionary art
represents him with his heart in his hand, and the
sentiment is true, for " great-hearted " is the
epithet which best suits him, and those who use
these pages for meditation or spiritual reading will
find that whereas S. Thomas teaches how we ought
to pray, S. Augustine makes us pray; not in vain
had he studied and taught rhetoric for so many
years !

This likeness between the two great Saints forms
the theme of one of the Responsories for the Office
for S. Thomas in the Dominican Breviary. It is
based on a famous vision. " There appeared to
me as I watched in prayer," said Brother Albert of
Brescia in his deposition, " two revered personages
clothed in wondrous splendour. One of them wore
a mitre on his head, the other was clad in the habit
of the Friars Preachers. And this latter bore on
his head a golden crown ; round his neck he wore
two rings, one of silver, the other of gold ; and on
his breast he had an immense precious stone, which
filled the church with light. His cloak, too, was
sewn with precious stones, and his tunic and his

* Touron, Vie de S. Thomas d'Aquin, Paris, 1740, p. 353.

2

i8 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

hood were of snowy white. And the one who wore
the mitre said to me : ' Brother Albert, why art
thou thus filled with wonder ? Thy prayers are
heard ; for — listen : I am Augustine, the Doctor of
the Church, and I am sent to thee to tell thee of
the doctrine and of the glory of Brother Thomas
of Aquin who is here with me. For he is my son ;
he in all things has followed my doctrine and that
of the Apostles, and by his teaching he has illumined
the Church of God. This is signified by the
precious stones which you see, and especially by
the one he carries on his breast, for it signifies the
upright intention which he ever had in view in his
defence of the faith and which he showed in his
words. These precious stones, then, and especially
that great one, signify the many books and works
that he wrote, and they show that he is equal to
me in glory save only that in the aureola of Vir-
ginity he surpasseth me.' "^

Cardinal Cajetan, from whose famous Commen-
tary on the Summa we have occasionally quoted,
is unfortunately too little known. Born in 1469,
and dying in 1534, he was the contemporary of
Luther and the Reformers, and, as was to be ex-
pected, their most formidable opponent. A great
student, a man of prayer as well as a man of action,
his was the striking figure of the earl}'- portion of
the sixteenth century. But his was a bold and
independent mind, and he was not afraid to
advance views which, though now commonly
accepted, brought his works into a certain dis-
favour. This is especially to be regretted in the
case of his Commentaries on the Bible. A thorough
* Boll., p. 706 ; cp. p. 665.

Introduction 19

Greek scholar, possessing no mean acquaintance
with Hebrew, he deserves, by reason of the clear-
ness and precision of his thought, the title of
" Prince of Commentators." Here, however, we
are concerned with the devotional rather than with
the critical aspect of his writings, and the reader
will gain from some of Cajetan's terse and pithy
comments a very great deal of instruction.

In conclusion, a few words may be desirable
regarding the method of S. Thomas.

S. Thomas divides his Summa Theologica into
three main parts. The First Part treats of God,
the Exemplar.^ The Second, of man made to the
image of Grod f the Third, of Grod Incarnate, of His
Sacraments by which we attain to union with Him
in this life, and of Eternal Life to which we attain
ultimately by '^"r resurrection. Here we are
solely concerned with the Second part? It is sub-
divided into two portions, known as the Prima
Secundce and the Secunda Secundce respectively, or
as the First and Second portions of the Second part.
In the Prima Secundce the Saint treats of the prin-
ciples of Morals — namely, of man's ultimate end
and of the habits, acts, and principles by which
he attains it. In the Secunda Secundce, after having
laid in the Prima Secundce the foundations of
Moral Theology, he proceeds to treat of the indi-
vidual virtues, firstly of the Theological Virtues,
Faith, Hope, and Charity ; then of the Cardinal
Virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Tem-
perance. Under each of these heads he treats of
the Gifts corresponding to each Virtue, of the vices

1 Prol. to la., Ildae. 2 pyQi_ ^o III. Pars.

» Prol. to Ila., Ildse.

20 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

opposed to them, and of the Precepts regarding
them.^ Apropos of the Cardinal Virtue of Justice,
he treats of the Moral Virtue of Religion, which is
comprised under Justice, since Religion may be
defined as the offering to God the worship which is
His due. Question LXXXI. He then treats of
Devotion, Question LXXXH., and then of Prayer,
Question LXXXH I. These three Questions we
here present in an English dress.

After these Treatises on individual virtues, he
passes to the consideration of those virtues which
concern, not men as a whole, but only certain
classes of men.^ And first of all he treats of those
Gifts which are bestowed upon certain men not so
much for their own benefit as for the good of others
— viz., of Prophecy, of Ecstasy, of the Gift of
Tongues, and of the Gift of Miracles. He then
discusses the two kinds of operations or " lives" —
the active, namely, and the contemplative — which
find a place in the Mystical Body of Christ, which
is the Church. These treatises in reality constitute a
commentary on i Cor. xii. 4-1 1 . Question CLXXIX.,
On the Division of Life into the Active and the Con-
templative, is here given ; as also Question CLXXX.,
On the Contemplative Life; Question CLXXX I.,
On the Active Life; Question CLXXXII., On the
Comparison of the Active with the Contemplative
Life.

S. Thomas then proceeds to treat of various states
of life — viz., of the state of perfection, of the Epis-
copal and of the Religious state. Only one question

1 Prol. to Ila. Ildae.

2 pyol. to Qu. CLXXI. of the Ilda., Ildae. ^

Introduction 21

raised in this connection concerns us here : Whether,
namely, Contemplative Religious Orders are superior
to Active Orders ? {Question CLXXXVIII. 6).

Each Question is, as will be seen from the Table
of Contents, divided into Articles.

The framework of what is termed an " article "
of the Summa is familiar to those who use that
work, but it may not be amiss to explain
S. Thomas's method in brief fashion. Each
" article " is couched in the form of a question,
thus : Has contemplation its joys ? And the Saint
at once sets forth in succession three, sometimes
more, arguments which seem to militate against
the view he himself holds. These are commonly
known as the objections. He then gives us a
short paragraph opening with the words : Sed
contra, or But on the contrary ; and in this para-
graph he gives some authority, generally that of
Holy Scripture or one of the Fathers, for the view
he is going to hold. This paragraph is generally
known from its opening words as the Sed contra ;
there is no argument in it save from authority.
He then proceeds to discuss the question from the
standpoint of pure reason. This portion is known
as the Corpus articuli, or Body of the Article, and
in it the Saint presents his reasoning in clear,
precise fashion. It will be apparent, of course,
that many questions cannot be answered with a
categoric yes or no, but the precise sense in which
certain terms in the discussion are to be used has
to be clearly ascertained ; according to the diverse
ways in which they may be understood the answer
will be affirmative or negative. It is important

22 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

for those not familiar with S. Thomas' works to
grasp this point ; they must not, for instance, pre-
sume that because the opening " objections " seem
to uphold one point of view S. Thomas is therefore
going to hold the precise opposite. A good example
of this will be found in the Article : Ought we to
pray to God alone ?

In the Treatises here presented the argument,
though clear and precise, is hardly what we should
call subtle, and this for the simple reason that the
subject-matter does not call for subtle treatment.
But what cannot fail to strike the most cursory
reader is the tone of submission to authority and
to the teachings of the Fathers which characterizes
every page : " Summe veneratiis est sacros Doctor es,*^
says Cajetan, " ideo intellectum omnium quodammodo
sortitus est."'^ And the natural corollary of this is
the complete self-effacement of the Saint. The first
person is conspicuous by its absence all through the
Summa, though the reader of the following pages
will find one exception to this rule.

And the more we study these Articles of
S. Thomas the more we marvel ; the thought is so
concentrated and yet so limpid in its expression,
that as we read it it seems as though no one could
ever have thought otherwise. But read it, and
then try to reformulate the line of argument which
you have been following with such ease — and your
mind halts, your tongue stammers ! It is one
thing to understand the thought when expressed,
quite another to think such thoughts and express
them. Hence the declaration made by Pope
^ Comment, on Ila., Ilae., cxlviii. 4.

Introduction 23

John XXII. when the question of the holy Doctor's
canonization was brought forward : " Such teach-
ing," he exclaimed, " could only have been due to
miracle !" And on the following day in the Con-
sistory : "He has brought greater light to the Church
than all other Doctors ; by one year's study of his
writings a man may make greater profit than if he
spend his whole life studying the writings of others!"^

The reader will sometimes feel incHned to smile
at the quaint etymologies which occur now and
again. But he must remember that these are
given by the Saint for what they are worth. It
was not a philological age, and S. Thomas made
use of the Book of Etymologies drawn up in the
seventh century by S. Isidore of Seville.

Besides the writings of S. Augustine, two Patris-
tic works are cited with considerable frequency by
S. Thomas in these pages : the Opus Imperfedum
of S. Chrysostom on S. Matthew's Gospel, and the
works of Denis the Areopagite. The former is
almost certainly not the work of S. Chrysostom,
but rather of an Arian writer towards the close of
the sixth century.^ The writer known as Denis
the Areopagite, owing to his being traditionally
identified with S. Paul's convert at Athens, prob-
ably wrote about the close of the fifth century.
Few works of Mystical Theology exercised a greater
influence on the writers of the Middle Ages.^ A
word must also be said about the Gloss to which
S. Thomas so often refers, and which he quotes as
an authority. The term " Gloss " was applied to

1 Boll., p. 680. 2 See Bardenhewer, Patrologie, i. 319.

3 Smith and Wace, Diet, of Christian Biography, i. 847.

24 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the brief running commentaries on the Bible which
were in vogue in the Middle Ages. These brief
paraphrases were also known as Postillce, and they
were frequently written in between the lines of the
text of the Bible, whence the name Interlinear
Gloss ; or in the margins, whence the name Mar-
ginal Gloss. The Glossa Ordinaria, as it is called,
is the best known of these commentaries. It is
usually attributed to Walafrid Strabo, a monk of
the Abbey of S. Gall, who died in 849 ; but it is
probable that Strabo took down his Commentary
from the lips of Rabanus Maurus, a monk of the
Abbey of Fulda, and afterwards its abbot. Ra-
banus was a most prolific writer, and has left Com-
mentaries on nearly all the Books of the Bible.
Even when Abbot he reserved to himself the Chair
of Scripture ;^ he had had the great advantage of
living for a time in Palestine. Another Bibhcal
scholar to whom the Glossa Ordinaria of S. Thomas's
time apparently owed much, was Hugo a S. Caro,
the Dominican Provincial in France, and after-
wards Cardinal-Priest of S. Sabina. It was under
his direction that the first Concordance of the Bible
was formed, in which task he is said to have had
the assistance of five hundred Friars.^ He owes
his title of Glossator to his well-known Postillce, or
Brief Commentaries on the whole Bible. The
Glossa Interlinearis is due to Anselm, a Canon of
Laudun, who died in 11 17. Another famous Glos-
sator was Nicolas de Lyra, a Franciscan who died

^ Fabricius, Bibliotheca Latina, s.v. Walafridus and
Rabanus.
2 Ibid., s.v. Hugo 5. S. Caro.

Introduction 25

in 1340 — some sixty-six years, that is, subsequent
to S. Thomas. Lastly, we should mention Peter
the Lombard, commonly known as The Master of
the Sentences, from his four books of Sentences, in
which he presented the theological teaching of the
Fathers in Scholastic fashion. This treatise be-
came the Scholastic manual of the age. To him is
due a Gloss on the Psalter and on Job, as well as
a series of brief notes on the Epistles of S. Paul
taken from the writings of the chief Fathers,
S. Ambrose, S. Jerome, S. Augustine, etc. And
the authority accorded to these Glosses in general
is due to the fact that they constituted a running
Commentary taken from the wTitings of the
Fathers and Doctors of the Church.

THE BREVIARY HYMN TO S. AUGUSTINE.

Magne Pater Augustine
Preces nostras suscipe,
Et per eas Conditori
Nos placare satage,
Atque rege gregem tuum
Summuni decus praesulum.

Amatorem paupertatis
Te collaudant pauperes :
Assertorem veritatis
Amant veri judices :
Frangis nobis favos mellis,
De Scripturis disserens.

Quae obscura prius erant
Nobis plana faciens,
Tu de verbis Salvatoris
Dulcem panem conficis,
Et propinas potum vitas
De Psalmorum nectare.

26 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Tu de vita clericorum
Sanctam scribis Regulam,
Quam qui amant et sequuntur
Viam tenent regiam,
Atque tuo sancto ductu
Redeunt ad Patriam.

Regi regum salus, vita,
Decus et imperium :
Trinitati laus et honor
Sit per omne saeculum :
Qui concives nos adscribat
Supernorum civium. Amen.

QUESTION LXXXI

OF THE VIRTUE OF RELIGION

PAGE

I. Does the Virtue of Religion direct a Man to God

alone ? - - - - - 27

S. Augustine, Sermon, cccxxxiv. 3 - - 32

On Psalm Ixxvi. - - 32

,, Sermon, cccxi. 14-15 - - 33

II. Is Religion a Virtue ? - - - - 34

III. Is Religion One Virtue ? - - - - 35

IV. Is Religion a Special Virtue distinct from Others ? 37
V. Is Religion One of the Theological Virtues ? - 39

VI. Is Religion to be preferred to the Other Moral

Virtues ? - - - - - 42

VII. Has Religion, or Latria, any External Acts ? - 44

S. Augustine, Of Care for the Dead, \. - - 46

VIII. Is Religion the Same as Sanctity ? - - 47

Cardinal Cajetan, On the Distinction between

Sanctity and Religion - - -50

I

Does the Virtue of Religion direct a Man

TO God Alone ?

Cicero says^ : " Religion offers internal and ex-
ternal reverence to that Superior Nature which we
term the Divine."

S. Isidore says^ : " A religious man is, as Cicero
remarks, so called from religion, for he is occupied
with and, as it were, reads through again and
again {relegit) the things that concern Divine wor-

* De invent. Rhetor., ii. 53. ^ Etymolog., x. sub litt. R.

27

28 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

ship." Thus rehgion seems to be so called from
reading again (religendo) things concerning Divine
worship ; for such things are to be repeatedly
revolved in the mind, according to those words of
Proverbs iii. 6 : In all thy ways think on Him. At
the same time religion might be said to be so called
because " we ought to choose again {re-eligere)
those things which through our negligence we
have lost," as S. Augustine has noted. -"^ Or
perhaps it is better derived from " binding again "
(religando) ; thus S. Augustine says^ : " Let re-
ligion bind us once more to the One Almighty
God."

But whether religion be so called from frequent
reading, or from fresh election of Him Whom we
have negligently lost, or from rebinding, it properly
implies a certain relation to God. For it is He to
Whom we ought to be especially bound as our
indefectible principle ; to Him must we assiduously
direct our choice as our ultimate end ; He it is
Whom we negligently lose by sin and Whom we
must regain by believing in Him and by professing
our faith in Him.

But some deny that religion directs a man to
God alone, thus :

I. S. James says^ : Religion clean and undefiled
before God and the Father is this : to visit the father-
less and widows in their tribulation ; and to keep
oneself unspotted from this world. But to visit the
fatherless and widows indicates relation to our
neighbour, and to keep oneself unspotted from this

* Of the City of God, x. 3. 2 Of the True Religion, Iv.

^ St. Jas. i. 27.

Of the Virtue of Religion 29

world refers to ourselves. Hence religion is not
confined to our relationship with God.

But religion has two sorts of acts. Some
belong to it properly and immediately, those
acts, namely, which it elicits and by which
man is directed to God alone, as, for instance,
to offer Him sacrifice, to adore Him, etc.

But there are other acts which religion pro-
duces through the medium of the virtues
which it controls, directing them, that is,
towards reverence to God ; for that virtue
which is concerned with the end directs those
virtues which have to do with the means to
the end. And in this sense to visit the father-
less and widows in their tribulation is said to
be an act of religion because commanded by
it, though actually elicited by the virtue of
mercy. Similarly to keep oneself unspotted from
this world is an act commanded by religion,
though elicited by temperance or some other
virtue.

2. S. Augustine says^ : " Since according to the
genius of the Latin speech — and that not merely of
the unlearned, but even of the most learned —
religion is said to be shown towards our human
relatives and connexions and intimates, this word
' religion ' cannot be used without some ambiguity
when applied to the worship of God ; hence we
cannot say with absolute confidence that religion
is nought else but the worship of God." Rehgion,
then, is not hmited to our relation to God, but
embraces our neighbour as well.

^ Of the City of God, x. i.

30 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

But it is only by an extension of the name
" religion " that it is made to embrace our
relations towards our human kin, it is not
according to the proper signification of the
word. Hence S. Augustine prefaced the words
quoted from him above with the remark :
" Religion, strictly speaking, seems to mean,
not any kind of worship, but only that of God."

3. Further , latria seems to come under religion.
But S. Augustine says^ : " Latria is interpreted as
service." But we ought to serve not God only,
but our neighbour as well : By charity of the spirit
serve one another? Religion, then, implies rela-
tion to our neighbour.

But since a slave imphes a master, it follows
that where there exists a peculiar and special
title of dominion there also will be found a
peculiar and special ratio of servitude. It is
clear, however, that dominion belongs to God
in a peculiar and special fashion, since He it
is Who has made all things and Who holds
the chief rule over all things. Consequently
a special kind of service is due to Him. And
this service is by the Greeks designated latria,
which is, in consequence, properly comprised
under " rehgion."

4. Again, reverence comes under religion. But
man has to reverence, not only God, but his neigh-
bour as well ; as Cato says : " Reverence parents."
Hence religion establishes a relation between our-

1 OJ the City of God, x. i. 2 Gal. v. 13.

Of the Virtue of Religion 31

selves and our neighbour as well as between our-
selves and God.

But we are said to reverence those men
whom we honour or remember, or to whose
presence we resort. So, too, even things which
are subject to us are said to be " cultivated "
by us {coli) ; thus husbandmen {agricolce) are
so called because they " cultivate " the fields ;
the inhabitants of a place, too (incolce), are so
called because they " cultivate " the spots
where they dwell. But since special honour
is due to God as the First Principle of all, a
special kind of " cultus "^ or " reverence " is
His due, and this the Greeks call eusebia or
theosebia, as S. Augustine says.^

5 . Lastly, all who are in a state of salvation are
subject to God. But not all who are in a state of
salvation are called " religious," but those only
who bind themselves by certain vows and observ-
ances and who undertake to obey certain men.
Hence religion does not seem to mean the relation-
ship of subjection of man to God.

But although, generally speaking, all those
who worship God can be termed " religious,"
yet those are specially so called who dedicate
their whole Hves to the Divine worship and
cut themselves off from worldly occupations.

^ The objection and its solution turn upon the Latin words
cultus a.n6. colere, which cannot be consistently rendered in Eng-
hsh ; " reverence " is perhaps the most appropriate translation
here.

* Of the City of God, x. i.

32 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Thus those are not termed " contemplatives "
who merely contemplate, but they who devote
their lives to contemplation. And such men
do not subject themselves to men for man's
sake, but for God's, as the Apostle says : Yon
received me as an Angel of God, even as Christ
Jesus}

'p ^ ^ ^ ^F

S. Augustine : We are to abide in Christ ! How
then shall That not be now our possession Where
we are then to abide and Whence we are to draw
Life ? Let Holy Scripture speak for us lest we
should seem in mere conjecture to be saying things
contrary to the teaching of the Word of God.
Hear the words of one who knew : // God be for
us who is against us ?^ The Lord, he says, is the
portion of my inheritance.^ He saith not : Lord,
what wilt Thou give me for mine inheritance ?
All that Thou canst give me is worthless ! Be
Thou mine inheritance ! Thee do I love ! Thee
do I wholly love ! With all my heart, with all
my soul, with all my mind do I love Thee ! What,
then, shall be my lot ? What wilt Thou give me
save Thyself ? This is to love God freely. This is
to hope for God from God. This is to hasten to
be filled with God, to be sated with Him. For
He is sufficient for thee ; apart from Him nought
can suffice thee ! {Sermon, cccxxxiv. 3).

S, Augustine : I cried to the Lord with my voice.*
Many cry to the Lord that they may win riches,
that they may avoid losses ; they cry that their

* Gal. iv. 14. 2 Rom. viii. 31.

3 Ps. XV. 5. * Ps. Ixxvi. I.

Of the Virtue of Religion 33

family may be established, they ask for temporal
happiness, for worldly dignities ; and, lastly, they
cry for bodily health, which is the patrimony of the
poor. For these and suchlike things many cry
to the Lord ; hardly one cries for the Lord Him-
self ! How easy it is for a man to desire all manner
of things from the Lord and yet not desire the
Lord Himself ! As though the gift could be
. sweeter than the Giver ! {on Ps. Ixxvi.).

S. Augustine : Picture God as saying to you — He
Who re-created you and adopted you : "My son, why
is it that day by day you rise and pray, and genu-
flect, and even strike the ground with your fore-
head, nay, sometimes even shed tears, while you
say to Me : ' My Father, my God I give me wealth 1'
If I were to give it to you, you would think your-
self of some importance, you would fancy you had
gained something very great. Yet because you
asked for it you have it. But take care to make
good use of it. Before you had it you were humble ;
now that you have begun to be rich you despise
the poor ! What kind of a good is that which only
makes you worse ? For worse you are, since you
were bad already. And that it would make you
worse you knew not, hence you asked it of Me.
I gave it to you and I proved you ; you have found
— and you are found out ! You were hidden when
you had nothing. Correct thyself 1 Vomit up this
cupidity I Take a draught of charity ! . . . Ask
of Me better things than these, greater things than
these. Ask of Me spiritual things. Ask of Me
Myself !" {Sermon, cccxi. 14-15).

34 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

II

Is Religion a Virtue ?

A virtue is that which both renders its possessor,
as also his work, good. Hence we must say that
every good act comes under virtue. And it is clear
that to render to another what is his due has the
character of a good act ; for by the fact that a man
renders to another his due there is established a
certain fitting proportion and order between them.
But order comes under the ratio of good, just as
do measure and species, as S. Augustine estab-
lishes.^ Since, then, it belongs to religion to
render to some one, namely, God, the honour
which is His due, it is clear that religion is a virtue.

Some, however, deny this, thus :

1 . It belongs to religion to show reverence to
God. But reverence is an act of fear, and fear is
a gift.2 Religion, then, is a gift, not a virtue.

To reverence God is indeed an act of the
gift of fear. But to religion it belongs to do
certain things by reason of our reverence for
God. Hence it does not follow that religion
is the same thing as the gift of fear, but it is
related to it as to a higher principle. For
the gifts are superior to the moral virtues.

2. All virtue consists in the free-will, and hence
virtue is called an elective or voluntary habit.
But latria belongs to religion, and latria implies
a certain servitude. Hence religion is not a virtue.

^ Of the Nature of Good, iii.

2 Fear is one of the " Gifts " of the Holy Ghost.

Of the Virtue of Religion 35

But even a servant can freely give to his
master the service that is his due and thus
" make a virtue of necessity "^ by voluntarily
paying his debt. And similarly the payment
of due service to God can be an act of virtue
according as a man does it voluntarily.

3. Lastly, as is said in Aristotle's Ethics,^ the
aptitude for the virtues is implanted in us by
nature ; hence those things which come under the
virtues arise from the dictates of natural reason ;
but it belongs to religion to offer external reverence
to the Divine Nature. Ceremonial, however, or
external reverence, is not due to the dictates of
natural reason. Hence religion is not a virtue.

But it is due to the dictates of natural reason
that a man does certain things in order to
show reverence to God. That he should do
precisely this or that, however, does not come
from the dictates of natural reason, but from
Divine or human positive law.

Ill

Is Religion One Virtue ?

S. Paul says to the Ephesians^ : One God, one
faith. But true religion maintains faith in one
God. Consequently religion is one virtue.

Habits are distinguished according to the divers
objects with which they are concerned. But it
belongs to religion to show reverence for the One
God for one particular reason, inasmuch, namely,
as He is the First Principle, the Creator and

^ S. Jerome, Ep. LIV., alias X., ad Furiam.

* II., vi. 15. 3 iy 2-6.

36 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Governor of all things ; hence we read in Malachi^:
// / am a Father, where is my honour? for it is the
father that produces and governs. Hence it is
clear that religion is but one virtue.

But some maintain that religion is not one virtue,
thus :

1. By reHgion we are ordained^ to God. But in
God there are Three Persons, and, moreover, divers
attributes which are at least distinguishable from
one another by reason. But the diverse character
of the objects on which they fall suffices to differ-
entiate the virtues. Hence religion is not one virtue.

But the Three Divine Persons are but One
Principle as concerns the creation and the
government of things. And consequently They
are to be served by one religion. And the divers
attributes all concur in the First Principle,
for God produces all and governs all by
His Wisdom, His Will, and the power of His
Goodness. Hence religion is but one virtue.

2. One virtue can have but one act ; for habits
are differentiated according to their acts. But
religion has many acts, e.g., to worship, to serve,
to make vows, to pray, to make sacrifices, and
many other similar things. Consequently religion
is not one virtue.

But by one and the same act does man
serve God and worship Him ; for worship is
referred to God's excellence, to which is due

M. 6.

2 The Latin word or dinar em.odSi.s " to set in due order " ; there
is no precise English equivalent which can be consistently
employed.

Of the Virtue of Religion 37

reverence : service regards man's subjection,
for by reason of his condition he is bound to
show reverence to God. And under these two
heads are comprised all the acts which are
attributed to religion ; for by them all man
makes protestation of the Divine excellence
and of his subjection of himself to God, either
by offering Him something, or, again, by taking
upon himself something Divine.

3. Further, adoration belongs to rehgion. But
adoration is paid to images for one reason and to
God for another. But since diversity of " reason "
serves to differentiate the virtues, it seems that
rehgion is not one virtue.

But religious worship is not paid to images
considered in themselves as entities, but pre-
cisely as images bringing God Incarnate to
our mind. Further, regarding an image pre-
cisely as an image of some one, we do not stop
at it ; it carries us on to that which it repre-
sents. Hence the fact that religious venera-
tion is paid to images of Christ in no sense
means that there are various kinds of latria,
nor different virtues of religion.

IV

Is Religion a Special Virtue distinct from

Others ?

Religion is regarded as a part of Justice, and is
distinct from the other parts of Justice.

Since virtue is ordained to what is good, where
there exists some special ratio of good there must
be some special corresponding virtue. But the

38 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

particular good towards which rehgion is ordained
is the showing due honour to God. Honour, how-
ever, is due b}^ reason of some excellency. And to
God belongs pre-eminent excellence, since He in
every possible way infinitely transcends all things.
Hence special honour is due to Him ; just as we
note that in human concerns varying honours are
due to the varying excellencies of persons ; one is the
honour of a father, another that of a king, and so on.
Hence it is manifest that religion is a special virtue.

Some, however, maintain that religion is not a
special virtue distinct from others, thus :

1. S. Augustine says^ : " True sacrifice is every
work undertaken in order that we may be joined
to God in holy fellow^ship." But sacrifice comes
under religion. Every work of virtue therefore
comes under rehgion. And consequently it is not
a special virtue.

But every work of virtue is said to be a
sacrifice in so far as it is directed to showing
God reverence. It does not thence follow
that religion is a general virtue, but that it
commands all the other virtues.

2. The Apostle says to the Corinthians^ : Do all
to the glory of God. But it belongs to religion to
do some things for the glory of God . Hence religion
is not a special virtue.

But all kinds of acts, in so far as they are
done for the glory of God, come under re-
ligion ; not, however, as though it ehcited
them, but inasmuch as it controls them.
1 Of the City of God, x. 6. ^ II. x. 31.

Of the Virtue of Religion 39

Those acts, however, come under rehgion as
ehciting them which, by their own specific
character, pertain to the service of God.

3. Lastly, the charity whereby we love God is
not distinct from the charity by which we love our
neighbour. But in the Ethics^ it is said : " To be
honoured is akin to being loved." Hence religion
by which God is honoured is not a specifically
distinct virtue from those observances, whether
dulia or piety, whereby we honour our neighbour.
Hence it is not a special virtue.

But the object of love is a good thing ;
whereas the object of honour or reverence is
what is excellent. But it is God's Goodness
that is communicated to His creatures, not
the excellence of His Goodness. Hence while
the charity wherewith we love God is not a
distinct virtue from the charity wherewith we
love our neighbour, yet the religion whereby
we honour God is distinct from the virtues
whereby we honour our neighbour.

V

Is Religion One of the Theological Virtues ?

Religion is considered a part of Justice, and this
is a moral virtue.

Religion is the virtue whereby we offer to God
His due honour. Two things have therefore to be
considered in religion. First we have to consider
what religion offers God, namely, worship : this

1 VIII. viii. I.

40 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

may be regarded as the material and the object
with which rehgion is concerned. Secondly, we
have to consider Him to Whom it is offered,
namely, God Himself. Now, when worship is
offered to God it is not as though our worshipful
acts touched God, though this is the case when we
believe God, for by believing in God we touch Him
(and we have therefore said elsewhere^ that God
is the object of our faith not simply inasmuch as
we believe in God, but inasmuch as we believe
God). Due worship, however, is offered to God in
that certain acts whereby we worship Him are
performed as homage to Him, the offering sacri-
fice, for instance, and so forth. From all which it
is evident that God does not stand to the virtue
of religion as its object or as the material with
which it is concerned, but as its goal. And conse-
quently religion is not a theological virtue, for the
object of these latter is the ultimate end ; but
religion is a moral virtue, and the moral virtues are
concerned with the means to the end.

But some regard rehgion as a theological virtue,
thus :

I. S. Augustine says- : " God is worshipped by
faith, hope, and charity," and these are theological
virtues. But to offer worship to God comes under
religion. Therefore religion is a theological virtue.

But it is always the case that a faculty or a
virtue whose object is a certain end, controls —
by commanding — those faculties or virtues
which have to do with those things which are
means to that end. But the theological

^ 2. 2. Qu. II., Art. 2./ , 2 Enchiridion, in.

Of the Virtue of Religion 41

virtues — i.e.y faith, hope, and charity — are
directly concerned with God as their proper
object. And hence they are the cause — by
commanding it — of the act of the virtue of
reUgion which does certain things having rela-
tion to God. It is in this sense that S. Augus-
tine says that " God is worshipped by faith,
hope, and charity."

2. Those are called theological virtues which
have God for their object. But religion has God
for its object, for it directs us to God alone. There-
fore it is a theological virtue.

But religion directs man to God, not indeed
as towards its object, but as towards its goal.

3. Lastly, every virtue is either theological or
intellectual or moral. But rehgion is not an intel-
lectual virtue, for its perfection does not consist
in the consideration of the truth. Neither is it a
moral virtue, for the property of the moral virtues
IS to steer a middle course betwixt what is super-
fluous and what is below the requisite ; whereas
no one can worship God to excess, according to the
words of Ecclesiasticus^ : For He is above all praise.
Religion, then, can only be a theological virtue.

But religion is neither an intellectual nor a
theological virtue, but a moral virtue, for it is
part of justice. And the via media in religion
lies, not between the passions, but in a cer-
tain harmony which it establishes in the acts
which are directed towards God. I say " a
certain," not an absolute harmony, for we
can never show to God all the worship that is

1 xliii. 33.

42 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

His due ; I mean, then, the harmony arising
from the consideration of our human powers
and of the Divine acceptance of what we offer.
Moreover, there can be excess in those things
which have to do with the Divine worship ;
not indeed as regards quantity, but in certain
other circumstances, as, for example, when
Divine worship is offered to whom it should
not, or at times when it should not, or in other
unfitting circumstances.

VI

Is Religion to be preferred to the Other
Moral Virtues ?

In Exodus^ the commandments which concern
religion are put first, as though they were of
primary importance. But the order of the command-
ments is proportioned to the order of the virtues ;
for the commandments of the Law fall upon the acts
of the virtues. Hence religion is chief among the
moral virtues.

The means to an end derive their goodness from
their relation to that end ; hence the more nigh they
are to the end the better they are. But the moral
virtues are concerned with those things which are
ordained to God as their goal. And religion ap-
proaches more nearly to God than do the other
moral virtues, inasmuch as it is occupied with those
things which are directly and immediately ordained
to the Divine honour. Hence religion is the chief
of the moral virtues.

Some, however, deny that religion is pre-eminent
among the moral virtues, thus :

*■ XX. 1-17.

Of the Virtue of Religion 43

1. The perfection of a moral virtue lies in this,
that it keeps the due medium.^ But rehgion fails
to attain the medium of justice, for it does not
render to God anything absolutely equal to Him.
Hence religion is not better than the other moral
virtues.

But the praiseworthiness of a virtue lies in
the will, not in the power. Hence to fall short
of equality — which is the midpath of justice —
for lack of power, does not make virtue less
praiseworthy, provided the deficiency is not
due to the will.

2. Again, in our service of men a thing seems
to be praiseworthy in proportion to the need of
him whom we assist ; hence it is said in Isaias^ :
Deal thy bread to the hungry. But God needs
nothing that we can offer Him, according to the
Psalmist : / have said : Thou art my God, for Thou
hast no need of my goods. ^ Hence religion seems to
be less praiseworthy than the other virtues, for
by them man is succoured.

But in the service we render to another for
his profit, that is the more praiseworthy which
is rendered to the most needy, because it is
of greater profit to him. But no service is
rendered to God for His profit — for His glory,
indeed, but for our profit.

3. Lastly, the greater the necessity for doing a
thing the less worthy it is of praise, according to
the words : For if I preach the Gospel, it is no glory
to me, for a necessity lieth upon me.'^ But the greater

^ Ethics, II. vi. ^ Iviii. 7,

3 Ps. XV. 2. * I Cor. ix. 16.

44 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the debt the greater the necessity. Since, then,
the service which man offers to God is the greatest
of debts, it would appear that rehgion is the least
praiseworthy of all human virtues.

Where necessity comes in the glory of
supererogation is non-existent ; but the merit
of the virtue is not thereby excluded, provided
the will be present. Consequently the argu-
ment does not follow.

VII

Has Religion, that is Latria,^ any External

Acts ?

In Ps. Ixxxiii. 3 it is said : My heart and my flesh
have rejoiced in the living God. Now interior acts
belong to the heart, and in the same way exterior
acts are referred to the members of the body. It
appears, then, that God is to be worshipped by
exterior as well as by interior acts.

We do not show reverence and honour to God
for His own sake — for He in Himself is filled with
glory to which nought can be added by any created
thing — but for our own sakes. For by the fact
that we reverence and honour God our minds are
subjected to Him, and in that their perfection hes )
for all things are perfected according as they are
subjected to that which is superior to them — the
body, for instance, when vivified by the soul, the
air when illumined by the sun. Now the human
mind needs — if it would be united to God — the
guidance of the things of sense ; for, as the Apostle
says to the Romans^ : The invisible things of Him
* See p. 30. 2 i. 20.

Of the Virtue of Religion 45

are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made. Hence in the Divine worship it is
necessary to make use of certain corporal acts, so
that by their means, as by certain signs, man's
mind may be stirred up to those spiritual acts
whereby it is knit to God. Consequently religion
has certain interior acts which are its chief ones
and which essentially belong to it ; but it has also
external acts which are secondary and which are
subordinated to the interior acts.

Some deny, however, that exterior acts belong
to religion or latria, thus :

1. In S. John iv. 24 we read : For God is a
Spirit, and they that adore Him must adore Him in
spirit and in truth. External acts belong, how-
ever, rather to the body than to the spirit. Conse-
quently religion, which comprises adoration, has
no exterior acts, but only interior.

But here the Lord speaks only of that
which is chiefest and which is essentially
intended in Divine worship.

2. The end of religion is to show reverence and
honour to God. But it is not reverent to offer to
a superexcellent person what properly belongs to
inferiors. Since, then, what a man offers by
bodily acts seems more in accordance wth men's
needs and with that respect which we owe to in-
ferior created beings, it does not appear that it
can fittingly be made use of in order to show
reverence to God.

But such external acts are not offered to God
as though He needed them, as He says in the

46 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Psalm : Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks ? Or
shall I drink the blood of goats ?^ But such
acts are offered to God as signs of those
interior and spiritual works which God accepts
for their own sakes. Hence S. Augustine
says : " The visible sacrifice is the sacrament —
that is, the visible sign — of the invisible sacri-
fice. "^

3. Lastly, S. Augustine praises Seneca^ for his
condemnation of those men who offered to
their idols what they were wont to offer to men :
on the ground, namely, that what belongs to
mortal men is not fittingly offered to the im-
mortals. Still less, then, can such things be fit-
tingly offered to the True God Who is above all
gods^ Therefore to worship God by means of
bodily acts seems to be reprehensible. And con-
sequently religion does not include bodily acts.

But idolaters are so called because they
offer to their idols things belonging to men,
and this not as outward signs which may
excite in them spiritual affections, but as
being acceptable by those idols for their own
sake. And especially because they offered
them empty and vile things.

itft >¥ * * *

S. Augustine : When men pray, they, as becomes
suppliants, make use of their bodily members, for
they bend the knee, they stretch forth their hands,
they even prostrate on the ground and perform
other visible acts. Yet all the while their invisible

1 Ps. xlix. 13. * Of the City of God, x. 5.

3 Ibid., vi. 10. * Ps. xciv. 3.

Of the Virtue of Religion 47

will and their heart's intention are known to God.
He needs not these signs for the human soul to
be laid bare before Him. But man by so doing
stirs himself up to pray and groan with greater
humility and fervour. I know not how it is that
whereas such bodily movements can only be pro-
duced by reason of some preceding act on the part
of the soul, yet when they are thus visibly per-
formed the interior invisible movement which
gave them birth is thereby itself increased, and
the heart's affections — which must have preceded,
else such acts would not have been performed —
are thereby themselves increased.

Yet none the less, if a man be in some sort
hindered so that he is not at liberty to make use
of such external acts, the interior man does not
therefore cease to pray ; in the secret chamber of
his heart, where lies compunction, he lies prostrate
before the eyes of God {Of Care for the Dead, v.).

vni

Is Religion the Same as Sanctity ?

In S. Luke's GospeP we read : Let us serve Him
in holiness and justice. But to serve God comes
under religion. Hence religion is the same as
sanctity.

The word " sanctity " seems to imply two things.
First, it seems to imply cleanness ; and this is
in accordance with the Greek word for it, for in
Greek it is hagios,^ as though meaning ** without

^ i- 74-75-

2 Thus Origen, Horn. XI., i. in Leviticum, where, however,
he is not really giving an etymology.

4^ On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

earth." Secondly, it implies stability, and thus

among the ancients those things were termed

sancta which were so hedged about with laws that

they were safe from violation ; similarly a thing is

said to be sancitum because established by law.

And even according to the Latins the word sanctus

may mean " cleanness," as derived from sanguine

tindus, for of old those who were to be purified

were sprinkled with the blood of a victim, as says

S. Isidore in his Etymologies }

And both meanings allow us to attribute sanctity
to things which are used in the Divine worship ;
so that not men only, but also temples and vessels
and other similar things are said to be sanctified
by reason of their use in Divine worship. Clean-
ness indeed is necessary if a man's mind is to be
applied to God. For the mind of man is stained
by being immersed in inferior things, as indeed
all things are cheapened by admixture with things
inferior to them — silver, for instance, when mixed
with lead. And for our minds to be knit to the
Supreme Being they must needs be withdrawn
from inferior things. Without cleanness, then, the
mind cannot be applied to God. Hence in the Epistle
to the Hebrews^ it is said : Follow peace with all men ^
and holiness, without which no man shall see God.

Stability is also required if the mind is to be
appUed to God. For the mind is applied to Him
as to the Ultimate End and First Principle, and
consequently must be immovable. Hence the
Apostle says : For I am sure that neither death nor
life shall separate me from the love of God.^

1 X., sub Hit. S. 2 xii. 14. ^ Rom. viii. 38-39.

Of the Virtue of Religion 49

Sanctity, then, is said to be that whereby man's
mind and its acts are apphed to God. Hence
sanctity does not differ from religion essentially,
but in idea only. For by religion we mean that
a man offers God due service in those things which
specially pertain to the Divine worship — sacrifices,
for example, and oblations, etc. ; but by sanctity
we mean that a man not only offers these things,
but also refers to God the works of the other virtues,
and also that a man disposes himself by good
works for the Divine worship.

Some, however, deny the identity of religion
and sanctity, thus :

1. Religion is a certain special virtue. But
sanctity is called a general virtue, for according to
Andronicus,^ sanctity is that which " makes men
faithful observers of what is justly due to God."
Hence sanctity is not the same as rehgion.

But sanctity is in its essence a special
virtue, and as such is, in a sort, the same as
religion. It has, however, a certain general
aspect in that, by its commands, it directs all
the acts of the virtues to the Divine Good.
In the same way legal justice is termed a
general virtue in that it directs the acts of all
the virtues to the common good.

2. Sanctity seems to imply cleanness, for S. Denis
says^: "Sanctity is freedom from all impurity; it
is perfect and stainless cleanness." Cleanness,
however, seems to come under temperance, for
this it is which precludes bodily defilement. Since,

^ De Affectibus. ^ Of the Divine Names, xii.

4

50 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

then, religion comes under justice, sanctity cannot
be identified with religion.

Temperance indeed worketh cleanness, but
this has not the ratio of sanctity except it be
referred to God. Hence S. Augustine says of
virginity itself that " not because it is vir-
ginity is it held in honour, but because it is
consecrated to God."^

3. Lastly, things that are contradistinguished
are not identical. But in all enumerations of the
parts of justice sanctity is set against religion.

But sanctity is set against religion because
of the difference aforesaid ; they differ indeed
in idea, not in substance.

* * * * «

Cajetan : Religion is directly concerned with those
things which specially pertain to the Divine wor-
ship— ceremonies, for example, sacrifices, obla-
tions, etc. Whereas sanctity directly regards the
mind, and through the mind the other virtuous
works, including those of religion . . . for it makes
use of them so as thereby to apply the mind — and
by consequence all acts that proceed from the
human mind — to God. Thus we see that many
religious people are not saints, whereas all saints
are religious. For people who devote themselves
to ceremonies, sacrifices, etc., can be termed
religious ; but they can only be called saints in so
far as by means of these things they give themselves
interiorly to God {on 2. 2. 81. 8).

^ Of Virginity, viii.

QUESTION LXXXII

OF DEVOTION

PAGE

I. Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act ? - - 51
Cardinal Cajetan, On the Meaning of the Term

"Devotion" - - - - 53

S. Augustine, Confessions , XIII. viii. 2 - 54

II. Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of Religion ? - 55

III. Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the Cause of

Devotion ? - - - - 57

Cardinal Cajetan, On the Causes of Devotion - 60

On the Devotion of Women - 61

IV. Is Joy an Effect of Devotion ? - - - 62

Cardinal Cajetan, On Melancholy - - 64

S. Augustine, Confessions, II. x. - - 65

I

Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act?

It is by our acts that we merit. But devotion
has a pecuHarly meritorious character. Conse-
quently devotion is a special kind of act.

Devotion is so termed from " devoting " oneself.
Hence the ** devout " are so named because they

devote " themselves to God and thus proclaim
their complete subjection to Him. Thus, too,
among the heathen of old those were termed
" devout " who for the army's sake " devoted "
themselves to their idols unto death, as Livy ^

1 VIII. 9 and X. 29.
51

(f

52 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

tells us was the case with the two Decii. Hence
devotion seems to mean nothing else than " the
will to give oneself promptly to those things which
pertain to God's service "; thus it is said in Exodus^ :
The multitude of the children of Israel . . . offered
first-fruits to the Lord with a most ready and devout
mind. It is clear, however, that a wish to do
readily what belongs to God's service is a special
act. Hence devotion is a special act of the will.

But some argue that devotion is not a special
kind of act, thus :

1 . That which serves to qualify other acts can-
not be itself a special act. But devotion appears to
qualify certain other acts ; thus it is said that all
the multitude offered victims, and praises, and holo-
causts with a devout niind.^

But that which moves another gives a certain
measure to the latter's movement. The will,
however, moves the other faculties of the soul
to their respective acts; and, moreover, the
will, as aiming at an end in view, moves itself
to the means towards that end. Consequently,
since devotion is the act of a man who offers
himself to serve Him Who is the Ultimate
End, it follows that devotion gives a certain
measure to human acts — whether they be the
acts of the will itself with regard to the means
to an end, or the acts of the other faculties
as moved by the will.

2. Again, no act which finds a place in different
kinds of acts can be itself a special kind of act.

^ XXXV. 20-2I. ^ 2 Paral. xxix. 31,

Of Devotion 53

But devotion is to be found in acts of different
kinds, both in corporal acts, for example, and
in spiritual ; thus a man is said to meditate
devoutly, for instance, or to genuflect devoutly.

But devotion does not find a place in dif-
ferent kinds of acts as though it were a species
coming under different genera, but in the same
sense as the motive power of a moving princi-
ple is virtually discoverable in the movements
of the things it sets in motion.

3. Lastly, all special kinds of acts belong either
to the appetitive or to the cognoscitive faculties.
But devotion comes under neither of these — as
will be evident to anyone who will reflect upon the
various acts of these faculties respectively.

But devotion is an act of the appetitive
powers of the soul, and is, as we have said
above, a movement of the will.

Cajetan : With regard to the proper meaning of
the term devotion, note that since devotion is clearly
derived from devoting, and since to devote — derived
in its turn from to vow — means to promise some-
thing spontaneously to God : it follows that the
principle in all such promises is the will ; and
further, not the will simply as such, but the will
so affected as to be prompt. Hence in Latin those
are said to be devoted to some superior whose
will is so affected towards him as to make them
prompt in his regard. And this seems to refer
especially to God and to those who in a sense stand
in His place, as, for instance, our rulers, our father-
land, and our principles of action. Hence in the

54 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Church's usage the term devotion is especially
applied to those who are so affected towards God
as to be prompt in His regard and in all that
concerns Him. And so devotion is here taken to
signify the act of a will so disposed, the act by
which a man shows himself prompt in the Divine
service. . . . Thus, then, devotion, the principal
act of the virtue of religion, implies first of all the
prompt desire of the Divine honour in our exercise
of Divine worship ; and hence comes the prompt
choice of appropriate means to this end, and also
the prompt carrying out of what we see to be
suitable to that end. And the proof of possession
of such devotion is that truly devout souls,
the moment they perceive that some particular
thing (or other) ought to be done for the service
of God, are so promptly moved towards it that
they rejoice in having to do or in actually doing it
{on 2. 2. 82. i).

S. Augustine : Give me, O Lord, Thyself ; grant
Thyself to me ! For Thee do I love, and if my
love be but weak, then would I love Thee more.
For I cannot measure it so as to know how much
my love falls short of that love which shall make
my life run to Thy embraces nor ever turn away
from Thee till I be hid in the hiding-place of Thy
countenance. This only do I know : that it fares
ill with me when away from Thee ; and this not
merely externally, but within me ; for all abund-
ance which is not my God is but penury for me 1
{Confessions, XHI. viii. 2).

Of Devotion 55

II

Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of
Religion ?

Devotion is derived from " devoting oneself "
or making vows. But a vow is an act of the
virtue of religion. Consequently devotion also is
an act of the virtue of religion.

It belongs to the same virtue to wish to do a
thing and to have a prompt v/iil to do it, for the
object of each of these acts is the same. For this
reason the Philosopher says^ : " Justice is that by
which men will and perform just deeds." And it
is clear that to perform those things which pertain
to the Divine worship or service comes under the
virtue of religion. Consequently it belongs to the
same virtue of religion to have a prompt will to
carry out these things — in other words, to be de-
vout. Whence it follows that devotion is an act
of the virtue of religion.

But some argue that devotion is not an act of the
virtue of religion, thus :

I. Devotion means that a man gives himself to
God. But this belongs to the virtue of charity,
for, as S. Denis says^ : " Divine love causes ecstasy
since it permits not that those who love should
belong any more to themselves, but to those things
which they love." Whence devotion would seem
to be rather an act of charity than of the virtue of
religion.

1 Ethics, V. i. 3.

2 Of the Divine Names, chap, iv., part i., lect. lo.

56 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

It is indeed through charity that a man
gives himself to God, dinging to Him by a
certain union of soul ; but that a man should
give himself to God and occupy himself with
the Divine service, is due directly to the virtue
of religion, though indirectly it is due to the
virtue of charity, which is the principle of the
virtue of religion.

2. Again, charity precedes the virtue of religion.
But devotion seems to precede charity ; for charity
is signified in Scripture by fire, and devotion by
the fat of the sacrifices — the material on which the
fire feeds. Consequently devotion is not an act of
the virtue of religion.

But v/hile the fat of the body is generated
by the natural digestive heat, that natural
heat finds its nourishment in that same fat.
Similarly charity both causes devotion — since
it is by love that a man becomes prompt to
serve his friend — and at the same time charity
is fed by devotion ; just as all friendship is
preserved and increased by the practice of
friendly acts and by meditating upon them.

3. Lastly, by the virtue of religion a man turns
to God alone. But devotion extends to men as
well ; people, for instance, are said to be devoted
to certain Saints, and servants are said to be
devoted to their masters, as S. Leo says of the
Jews,^ that being devoted to the Roman laws,
they said : We have no king but Ccesar? Conse-

* Sermon VIII. : On the Passion of Our Lord.
' S. John xix. 15.

Of Devotion 57

quently devotion is not an act of the virtue of
religion.

But the devotion which we have to the
Saints of God, whether hving or dead, does not
stop at them, but passes on to God, since we
venerate God in God's ministers. And the
devotion which subjects have to their tem-
poral masters is of a different kind altogether,
just as the service of temporal masters differs
from the service of the Divine Master.

Ill

Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the
Cause of Devotion ?

In Ps. xxxviii. 4 it is said : And in my meditation
a fire shall flame out. But spiritual fire causes
devotion. Therefore meditation causes devotion.

The extrinsic and principal cause of devotion is
God Himself ; thus S. Ambrose says^ : " God calls
those whom He deigns to call ; and whom He wills
to make religious He makes religious ; and had He
willed it He would have made the Samaritans
devout instead of indevout."

But the intrinsic cause of devotion on our part
is meditation or contemplation. For, as we have
said, devotion is a certain act of the will by which
a man gives himself promptly to the Divine service.
All acts of the will, however, proceed from con-
sideration, since the will's object is good under-
stood. Hence S. Augustine says^ : " The will starts

^ Commentary on S. Luke ix. 55.
2 De Trinitaie, ix. 12 ; xv. 23.

58 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

from the understanding." Meditation must, then,
be the cause of devotion inasmuch as it is from
meditation that a man conceives the idea of giving
himself up to God.

And two considerations lead a man to do this :
one is the consideration of the Divine Goodness
and of His benefits, whence the words of the
Psalmist : But for me it is good to cling close to
my God, to put my hope in the Lord God} And this
consideration begets love, which is the proximate
cause of devotion. And the second is man's con-
sideration of his own defects which compel him
to lean upon God, according to the words : / have
lifted up mine eyes to the mountains, from whence
help shall come to me ; my help is from the Lord
Who made Heaven and earth. ^ This latter con-
sideration excludes all presumption which, by
making him lean upon himself, might prevent a
man from submitting himself to God.

Some, however, argue that contemplation or
meditation is not the cause of devotion, thus :

1. No cause hinders its own effect. But subtle
intellectual meditations often hinder devotion.

But it is the consideration of those things
which naturally tend to excite love of God
which begets devotion ; consideration of things
which do not come under this head, but rather
distract the mind from it, are a hindrance to
devotion.

2. Again, if contemplation were the real cause
of devotion, it should follow that the higher the

1 Ps. Ixxii. 28. 2 Ps. cxx. I, 2.

Of Devotion 59

matter of our contemplation the greater the devo-
tion it begot. But the opposite is the case. For
it frequently happens that greater devotion is
aroused by the contemplation of the Passion of
Christ and of the other mysteries of His Sacred
Humanity than by meditation upon the Divine
excellences.

It is true that things which concern the
Godhead are of themselves more calculated to
excite in us love, and consequently devotion,
since God is to be loved above all things ; yet
it is due to the weakness of the human mind
that just as it needs to be led by the hand to
the knowledge of Divine things, so also must
it be lead to Divine love by means of the things
of sense already known to it ; and the chief of
these things is the Humanity of Christ, as is
said in the Preface of the Mass : So that knowing
God visibly in the flesh, we may thereby be
carried away to the love of things invisible. Con-
sequently the things that have to do with
Christ's Humanity lead us, as it were, by the
hand and are thus especially suited to stir up
devotion in us ; though, none the less, devotion
is principally concerned with the Divinity.

3. Lastly, if contemplation were the real cause
of devotion, it ought to follow that those who are
the more fitted for contemplation are also the more
fitted for devotion ; whereas the contrary is the
case, for greater devotion is often found among
simple folk and in the female sex, where contem-
plation is wanting.

6o On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

But knowledge, as indeed anything which
renders a person great, occasions a man to
trust in Himself, and hence he does not wholly
give himself to God. It is for this reason that
knowledge and suchlike things are sometimes
a hindrance to a man's devotion, whereas
among women and simple folk devotion
abounds by the suppression of all elation.
But if a man will only perfectly subject to
God his knowledge and any other perfection
he may have, then his devotion will increase.

Cajetan : Note these two intrinsic causes of
devotion : one, namely, which arises from medita-
tion upon God and His benefits, the other from
meditation on our own defects. Under the first
head I must consider God's goodness, mercy, and
kindness towards mankind and towards myself ;
the benefits, for instance, of creation according to
His own Likeness, of Redemption, of Baptism, of
His inspirations, of His invitations — whether
directly or through the medium of others ; His
patient waiting till I do penance ; His Holy
Eucharist ; His preserving me from so many perils
both of body and soul ; His care of me by means
of His Angels ; and His other individual benefits.
Under the second head come all my faults and the
punishments due to me, whether in the past or
now in the present ; my proneness to sin ; my mis-
use of my own powers by habituating my thoughts
and desires — as well as the inclinations of my other
various faculties — to evil ; my sojourning in a

Of Devotion 6i

region far away from His Friendship and from
His Divine conversation^ ; my perverted affections
which make me think far more of temporal than
of spiritual advantages or disadvantages ; my utter
lack of virtue ; the wounds of my ignorance, of my
malice, of my weakness, of my concupiscence ; the
shackles on my hands and feet, on my good works,
that is ; the shackles, too, on my affections, so that
I dwell amidst darkness and rottenness and bitter-
ness, and shrink not from it ! My deafness, too,
to the inner voice of my Shepherd ; and, what is far
worse, that I have chosen God for my enemy and
my adversary as often as I have chosen mortal
sin, and that I have thus offered Him the grievous
insult of refusing to have Him for my God, and
choosing instead my belly, or money, or false
delights — and called them my God !

Meditations such as these should be in daily use
among spiritual and religious people, and for their
sake they should put aside the " much-speaking " of
vocal prayer, however much it may appeal to them.
And it is of such meditations that devotion and, by
consequence, other virtues, are begotten. And
they who do not give themselves to this form of
prayer at least once in the day cannot be called
religious men or women, nor even spiritual people.
There can be no effect without a cause, no end
without means to it, no gaining the harbour on
the island save by a voyage in a ship ; and so
there can be no real religion without repeated acts
regarding its causes, the means to it, and the
vehicle that is to bring us thither {on 2. 2. 82. 3).

Cajetan : Just as he who removes an obstacle is
1 S. Luke XV. 13, 16.

62 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the occasion of the resulting effect — a man, for
instance, who pulls down a pillar is the occasion of
the resulting fall of what it supported, and a man
who removes a water-dam is the occasion of the
consequent flood — so in the same way have women
and simple folk a cause of devotion within them-
selves, for they have not that obstacle which con-
sists in self-confidence. And because God bestows
His grace on those who put no obstacle to it, the
Church therefore calls the female sex " devout,"
Hence we are not to find fault with the learned for
their knowledge, nor are we to praise women for
womanly weakness ; but that abuse of knowledge
which consists in self-exaltation is blameworthy,
just as the right use of women's weakness in not
being uplifted is praiseworthy " {on 2. 2. 82. 3).

IV

Is Joy an Effect of Devotion ?

In the Church's Collect for the Thursday after
the Fourth Sunday of Lent we say : May holy
devotion fill with joy those whom the fast they have
undertaken chastises.

Of itself indeed, and primarily, devotion brings
about a spiritual joy of the mind ; but as an acci-
dental result it causes sorrow. For, as we have
said above, devotion arises from two considerations.
Primarily it arises from the consideration of the
Divine Goodness, and from this thought there
necessarily follows gladness, in accordance with the
words : / remembered God and was delighted} Yet,
as it were accidentally, this consideration begets

^ Ps. Ixxvi. 4.

Of Devotion 63

a certain sadness in those who do not as yet fully
enjoy God : My soul hath thirsted after the strong
living God^ and he immediately adds : My tears
have been my bread.

Secondarily, however, devotion arises from the
consideration of our own defects, for we thus
reflect upon that from which a man, by devout
acts of the will, turns away, so as no longer to
dwell in himself, but to subject himself to God.

And this consideration is the converse of the
former : for of itself it tends to cause sadness
since it makes us dwell upon our defects ; accident-
ally, however, it causes joy, for it makes us think
of the hope we have of God's assistance.

Hence joy of heart primarily and of itself follows
from devotion ; but secondarily and accidentally
there results a sadness which is unto God.

Some, however, argue that joy is not an effect
of devotion, thus :

I. Christ's Passion, as said before, is especially
calculated to cause devotion. But from dwelling
on it there follows a certain affliction of soul :
Remember my poverty . . . the wormwood and the
gall^ — that is, the Sacred Passion ; and then follows :
/ will be mindful, and rernember, and my soul shall
languish within me.

In meditation on the Passion of Christ
there is food for sadness — viz., the thought of
the sins of men, and to take these away Christ
had need to suffer. But there is also food for joy
— viz., the thought of God's merciful kindness
towards us in providing us such a deliverance.
^ Ps. xli. 3. 3 Lam. iii. 19.

64 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

2. Again, devotion principally consists in the
interior sacrifice of the heart : A sacrifice to God is
an afflicted spirit ;^ consequently affliction, rather
than pleasure or joy, is the outcome of devotion.

But the soul which is on the one hand
saddened because of its shortcomings in this
present life, is on the other hand delighted at
the thought of the goodness of God and of the
hope of Divine assistance.

3. Lastly, S. Gregory of Nyssa says ^ : "Just
as laughter proceeds from joy, so are sorrow and
groaning signs of sadness." But out of devotion
some burst into tears.

Yet tears spring not from sadness alone, but
also from a certain tenderness of feeling : and
especially is this the case when we reflect on
something that, while pleasant, has in it a
certain admixture of sadness ; thus men are
wont to weep from loving affection when they
recover their children or others dear to them
whom they had thought lost. And it is in
this sense that tears spring from devotion.

♦ ♦ * ♦ *

Cajetan : Notice the proof here afforded that
those are not devout persons who are habitually
sad and gloomy, and who cannot mingle with
others without getting into difficulties or dissolving
into tears. For devout folk are cheerful, and are
full of joy in their souls ; and this not solely by
reason of the principal cause, as is stated in the
text, but also by reason of a secondary cause — the

* Ps. 1. 19. ^ De Homine, xii.

Of Devotion 65

thought, namely, of their own faihngs. For the
sadness of devout folk is according to God, and joy
accompanies it ; whence S. Augustine's remark :
" Let a man grieve, but let him rejoice at his
grief. "^ Therefore it is that we read of the Saints
that they were joyful and bright ; and rightly so,
for they had begun upon earth their " heavenly
conversation "^ {on 2. 2. 82. 4).

S. Augustine : For Thee do I yearn. Justice and
Innocence, Beautiful and Fair in Thy beauteous
light that satisfies and yet never sates ! For with
Thee is repose exceedingly and life without dis-
quiet I He that enters into Thee enters into the
joy of his Lord ; he shall know no fear, and in
the Best shall be best. But I have deserted Thee
and have wandered away, O Lord, my God ! Too
far have I wandered from Thee, the Steadfast One,
in my youth, and I have become to myself a very
land of want ! {Confessions , IL x.).

^ De Vera et Falsa Poenitentia, xiii. ^ phil. iii, 20.

QUESTION LXXXIII

OF PRAYER

PAGE

I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers ? - 68
Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friend-
ship - - - - - 71
II. Is it Fitting to Pray ? - - - - 71
Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause - 74
S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount,

II. iii. 14 - - - 75

tt On the Gift of Perseverance,

vii. 15 - - - 75

III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion ? - 76

Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer- 78

S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 - - 79

„ Of the Gift of Perseverance,

xvi. 39 - - - 80

IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone ? - - 80

S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii, 2 - - 83

V. Should We in our Prayers ask for anything

Definite from God ? - - - 84

S. Augustine, De Catechizandis Rudibus,

XXV. 47 - - - 86

„ Confessions, X. xxix. - - 87

„ Confessions, XI. ii. 2 - - 88

VI. Ought We in our Prayers to ask for Temporal

Things from God ? - - - 89

S. Augustine, Ow Psfl/w xxxvii. 10 - - 91

,, Confessions, I. xx. 2 - - 92

,, Confessions, IX. iv. 12 - - 93

S, Thomas is miraculously relieved from

Toothache - - - - - 93

S. Augustine, Sermon, Ixxx. 7 - - 94

„ Sermon, cccliv. 8 - - 94

66

Of Prayer 67

PAGE

VII. Ought We to Pray for Others ? - - - 95

VIII. Ought We to Pray for our Enemies ? - - 99

S, Augustine, Sermon, xv., on Psalm xxv. 8 - loi

IX. On the Seven Petitions of the Lord's Prayer - 102
Cardinal Cajetan, On the Grouping of these

Petitions - - - - -107

S. Augustine, Confessions , VII. x. 2 - - 108

„ Sermon, Ivii., on S. Matt. vi. 7 - 109

,, Sermon, Ivi, 9, on S. Matt. vi. - no

,, Sermon, Ivi. 8, on S. Matt. vi. - no

Of the City of God, xix. 2^ - in

S. Thomas's Rhythm, Adoro Te Devote - 112

X. Is Prayer PecuHar to Rational Creatures ? - 113

XI. Do the Saints in Heaven Pray for Us ? - - 115

Cardinal Cajetan, On the Saints in Limbo - 118

XII. Should Prayer be Vocal ? - - - 119

Cardinal Cajetan, On the Conditions of Vocal

Prayer - - - - - 121

S. Augustine, Confessions, IX. iv. 8 - - 123

,, Confessions, X. xxxiii. 50 - 123
,, On Psalm cxviii., Sermon

xxix. I ... 124

XIII. Must Prayer necessarily be Attentive ? - - 125

Cardinal Cajetan, On the Varieties of Attention

at Prayer ----- 128

S. Augustine, On Psalm Ixxxv. 7 - - 129

,, On Psalm cxLv. i - - 130

S. Thomas, On Distractions, Com. on 1 Cor.

riv. 14 - - - - - 132

XIV. Should our Prayers be Long ? - - - 133
XV. Is Prayer Meritorious ? - - - - 137

S. Augustine, On Psalm xxvi. - - 142

Ep. cxxx. ad Probam. - - 142
XVI. Do Sinners gain Anything from God by their

Prayers ? - - - - - 143
XVII. Can We rightly term "Supplications," "Prayers,"
"Intercessions," and "Thanksgivings,"
parts of Prayer ?- - - -146
Cardinal Cajetan, On the Prayer of the Con-
secration - - - - - 149
S. Augustine, Of Divers Questions, iv. - 150

68 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

I

Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers ?

S. Isidore says^ : " To pray is the same thing as
to speak." Speaking, however, belongs to the
intellect. Hence prayer is not an act of the appeti-
tive, but of the intellectual faculties.

According to Cassiodorus, on those words of the
Psalmist : Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my stip-
plication, give ear to my tears, ^ prayer means " the
lips' reasoning." Now there is this difference
between the speculative and the practical reason,
that the speculative reason merely apprehends
things, while the practical reason not only appre-
hends things, but actually causes them. But one
thing is the cause of another in two ways : in one
way, perfectly — namely, as inducing a necessity —
as happens when the effect comes entirely under the
power of a cause ; in another way, imperfectly —
namely, by merely disposing to it — as happens
when an effect is not entirely under the power
of a cause.

And so, too, reason is in two ways the cause of
certain things : in one way as imposing a necessity ;
and in this way it belongs to the reason to com-
mand not merely the lower faculties and the bodily
members, but even men who are subject to us,
and this is done by giving commands. In another
way as inducing, and in some sort disposing to, an
effect ; and in this way the reason asks for some-
thing to be done by those who are subject to it,
whether they be equals or superiors.

* Etymologies, x., sub litt. O. ^ Ps. xxxviii. 13.

Of Prayer 69

But both of these — namely, to command some-
thing, or to ask or beg for something to be done —
imply a certain arrangement — as when a man
arranges for something to be done by somebody
else. And in this respect both of these acts come
under the reason whose office it is to arrange.
Hence the Philosopher says^ : " Reason asks for
the best things."

Here, then, we speak of prayer as implying a
certain asking or petition, for, as S. Augustine
says^ : " Prayer is a certain kind of petition ";
so, too, S. John Damascene says^ : " Prayer is the
asking of fitting things from God."

Hence it is clear that the prayer of which we
are here speaking is an act of the reason.

Some, however, think that prayer is an act of
the appetitive powers, thus :

I. The whole object of prayer is to be heard,
and the Psalmist says that it is our desires which
are heard : The Lord hath heard the desire of the
poor.^ Prayer, then, is desire ; but desire is an
act of the appetitive powers.

But the Lord is said to hear the desires of
the poor either because their desire is the
reason why they ask — since our petitions are
in a certain sense the outward expression of
our desires ; or this may be said in order to
show the swiftness with which He hears them
— even while things are only existing in the
poor man's desire ; God hears them even

■^ Ethics, I. xiii. 15.

2 Rabanus Maurus, De Universis, vi. 14.

3 On the Orthodox Faith, iii. 24. ■* Ps. x. 17.

70 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

before they are expressed in prayer. And
this accords with the words of Isaias : And it
shall come to pass that before they shall call
I will hear, as they are yet speaking I will
hear}

2. Again, Denis the Areopagite says : " But
before all things it is good to begin with prayer,
as thereby giving ourselves up to and uniting our-
selves with God."^ But union with God comes
through love, and love belongs to the appetitive
powers ; therefore prayer, too, would seem to
belong to the appetitive powers.

But the will moves the reason to its end
or object. Hence there is nothing to prevent
the reason, under the direction of the will,
from tending to the goal of charity, which is
union with God. Prayer, however, tends
towards God — moved, that is, by the will,
which itself is motived by charity — in two
ways : in one way by reason of that which is
asked for, since in prayer we have particu-
larly to ask that we may be united with God,
according to those words : One thing I have
asked of the Lord, this will I seek after, that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life.^ And in another way prayer tends
towards God — by reason, namely, of the peti-
tioner himself ; for such a one must approach
him from whom he asks something, and this
either bodily, as when he draws nigh to a man,
or mentally, as when he draws nigh to God.

^ Isa. Ixv. 24. " Of the Divine Names, vi. i.

^ Ps. xxvi. 4.

Of Prayer 7^

Hence the same Denis says : " When we in-
voke God in prayer we are before Him with
our minds laid bare." In the same sense
S. John Damascene says : " Prayer is the
ascent of the mind towards God."

Cajetan : Prayer demands of the petitioner a two-
fold union with God : the one is general — the union,
that is, of friendship — and is produced by charity,
so that further on^ we shall find the friendship
arising from charity enumerated among the condi-
tions for infallibly efficacious prayer. The second
kind of union may be termed substantial union ; it
is the effect of prayer itself. It is that union of
application by which the mind offers itself and all
it has to God in service^-viz., by devout affections,
by meditations, and by external acts. By such
union as this a man who prays is inseparable from
God in his worship and service, just as when one
man serves another he is inseparable from him in
his service {on 2. 2. 83. i).

"And now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, and we
are clay : and Thou art our Maker, and we are all
the works of Thy hands. Be not very angry, O
Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity : behold,
see we are all Thy people. "^

II

Is IT Fitting to Pray ?

In S. Luke's Gospel we read : We ought always
to pray and not to faint. ^

A threefold error regarding prayer existed
amongst the ancients ; for some maintained that

1 Art. XV. a jga. ixiv. 8, 9. ^ xviii. i.

72 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

human affairs were not directed by Divine Provi-
dence ; whence it followed that it was altogether
vain to pray or to worship God ; of such we read :
You have said, he laboureth in vain that serveth God}
A second opinion was that all things, even human
affairs, happened of necessity — whether from the
immutability of Divine Providence, or from a
necessity imposed by the stars, or from the con-
nection of causes ; and this opinion, of course,
excluded all utility from prayer. A third opinion
was that human affairs were indeed directed by
Divine Providence, and that human affairs did
not happen of necessity, but that Divine Provi-
dence was changeable, and that consequently its
dispositions were changed by our prayers and by
other acts of religious worship. These views, how-
ever, have elsewhere been shown to be wrong.

Consequently we have so to set forth the utility of
prayer as neither to make things happen of neces-
sity because subject to Divine Providence, nor to
suggest that the arrangements of Divine Provi-
dence are subject to change.

To bring this out clearly we must consider that
Divine Providence not merely arranges what effects
shall take place, but also from what causes they
shall proceed, and in what order.

But amongst other causes human acts are causes
of certain effects. Hence men must do certain
things, not so that their acts may change the
Divine arrangement, but that by their acts they
may bring about certain effects according to the
order arranged by God ; and it is the same with

^ Alal. iii. 14.

Of Prayer 73

natural causes. It is the same, too, in the case of
prayer. For we do not pray in order to change
the Divine arrangements, but in order to win that
which God arranged should be fulfilled by means
of prayers ; or, in S. Gregory's words : " Men by
petitioning may merit to receive what Almighty
God arranged before the ages to give them."^

Some, however, maintain that prayer is futile,
thus :

1 . Prayer seems to be necessary in order that
we may bring our wants to the notice of Him to
Whom we make the petition. But our Lord says :
Your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things.^

But it is not necessary for us to set forth
our petitions before God in order to make
known to Him our needs or desires, but rather
that we ourselves may realize that in these
things it is needful to have recourse to the
Divine assistance.

2. Again, by prayer the mind of him to whom
it is made is prevailed upon to grant what is asked
of him ; but the mind of God is unchangeable
and inflexible : The Triumpher in Israel will not
spare, and will not be moved to repentance ; for He
is not a man that He should repent.^ Consequently
it is unavaihng to pray to God.

But our prayers do not aim at changing the
Divine arrangements, but at obtaining by our
prayers what God has arranged to give us.

^ Dialogue, i. 8. 2 s_ Matt. vi. 32. ^ i Kings xv. 29.

74 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

3. Lastly, it is more generous to give to one
who does not ask than to one who asks, for, as
Seneca remarks : " Nothing is bought at a dearer
price than what is bought with prayers."^
Whereas God is most generous.

God, indeed, bestows on us many things out
of His generosity, even things for which we
do not ask ; but He wishes to grant us some
things on the supposition that we ask for
them. And this is for our advantage, for it
is intended to beget in us a certain confidence
in having recourse to God, as well as to make
us recognize that He is the Author of all good
to us. Hence S. Chrysostom says : " Reflect
what great happiness is bestowed upon you,
what glory is given you, namely, to converse
in your prayers with God, to join in colloquy
with Christ, and to beg for what you wish or
desire."^

Cajetan : Notice how foolish are some Christians
who, when desirous of reaching certain ends attain-
able by nature or art, are most careful to apply such
means, and would rightly regard their hopes as
vain unless they applied them ; and yet at the
same time they have quite false notions of the
fruits to be derived from prayer : as though prayer
were no cause at all, or at least but a remote one 1
Whence it comes to pass that, having false ideas
about the causes, they fail to reap any fruit {on
2. 2. 83. 2).

^ 0/ Good Deeds, ii. i.

2 Horn. II., On Prayer ; also Hotn. XXX., On Genesis.

Of Prayer 75

S. Augustine : But some may say : It is not so
much a question whether we are to pray by words
or deeds as whether we are to pray at all if God
already knows what is needful for us. Yet the
very giving ourselves to prayer has the effect of
soothing our minds and purifying them ; it makes
us more fit to receive the Divine gifts which are
spiritually poured out upon us. For God does not
hear us because of a display of prayer on our part ;
He is always ready, indeed, to give us His light, not,
indeed. His visible light, but the light of the intellect
and the spirit. It is we who are not always prepared
to receive it, and this because we are preoccupied
with other things and swallowed up in the dark-
ness resulting from desire of the things of earth.
When we pray, then, our hearts must turn to God,
Who is ever ready to give if only we will take
what He gives. And in so turning to Him we
must purify the eye of our mind by shutting out
all thought for the things of time, that so — with
single-minded gaze — we may be able to bear that
simple light that shines divinely, and neither sets
nor changes. And not merely to bear it, but even
to abide in it ; and this not simply without strain,
but with a certain unspeakable joy. In this joy
the life of the Blessed is truly and really per-
fected {On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14).

S. Augustine : He could have bestowed these
things on us even without our prayers ; but He
wished that by our prayers we should be taught
from Whom these benefits come. For from whom
do we receive them if not from Him from Whom we
are bidden to ask them ? Assuredly in this matter

76 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the Church does not demand laborious disputa-
tions ; but note Her daily prayers : She prays
that unbelievers may believe : God then brings
them to the Faith. She prays that the faithful
may persevere : God gives them perseverance to
the end. And God foreknew that He would do
these things. For this is the predestination of the
Saints whom He chose in Christ before the foundation
of the world^ {Of the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15).

"Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth ;
and till now I will declare Thy wonderful works.
And unto old age and grey hairs, O God, forsake
mc not, until I shew forth Thy arm to all the gen-
eration that is to come. "2

ni

Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion ?

In Ps. cxl. 2 we read : Let my prayer be directed
as incense in Thy sight, and on these words the
Gloss remarks : " According to this figure, in the
Old Law incense was said to be offered as an odour
of sweetness to the Lord." And this comes under
the virtue of religion. Therefore prayer is an act
of religion.

It properly belongs to the virtue of religion to
give due reverence and honour to God, and hence
all those things by which such reverence is shown
to God come under religion. By prayer, however,
a man shows reverence to God inasmuch as he
submits himself to Him and, by pra3nng, acknow-
ledges that he needs God as the Author of all
his good. Whence it is clear that prayer is properly
an act of religion.

^ Eph. i. 4. 2 Ps. ixx. 17, 18.

Of Prayer n

Some, however, maintain that prayer is not an
act of the virtue of rehgion, thus :

I . Prayer is rather the exercise of the Gift of
Understanding than of the virtue of rehgion.
For the virtue of rehgion comes under Justice ;
it is therefore resident in the will. But prayer
belongs to the intellectual faculties, as we have
shown above.

But we must remember that the will moves
the other faculties of the soul to their objects or
ends, and that consequently the virtue of
religion, which is in the will, directs the acts
of the other faculties in the reverence they
show towards God. Now amongst these other
faculties of the soul the intellect is the noblest
and the most nigh to the will ; consequently,
next to devotion, which belongs to the will
itself, prayer, which belongs to the intellective
part, is the chief act of religion, for by it
religion moves a man's understanding to-
wards God.

2. Again, acts of worship fall under precept,
whereas prayer seems to fall under no precept, but
to proceed simply from the mere wish to pray ; for
prayer is merely asking for what we want ; con-
sequently prayer is not an act of the virtue of
religion.

Yet not only to ask for what we desire, but
to desire rightly, falls under precept ; to desire,
indeed, falls under the precept of charity, but

78 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

to ask falls under the precept of religion — the
precept which is laid down in the words : Ask
and ye shall receive.'^

3. Lastly, the virtue of religion embraces due
worship and ceremonial offered to the Divinity ;
prayer, however, offers God nothing, but only
seeks to obtain things from Him.

In prayer a man offers to God his mind,
which he subjects to Him in reverence, and
which he, in some sort, lays bare before Him —
as we have just seen in S. Denis's words.
Hence, since the human mind is superior to
all the other exterior or bodily members, and
also to all exterior things which have place in
the Divine worship, it follows that prayer, too,
is pre-eminent among the acts of the virtue
of religion.

Cajetan : In prayer or petition there are three
things to be considered : the thing petitioned for,
the actual petition, and the petitioner. As far,
then, as the thing petitioned for is concerned, we
give nothing to God when we pray ; rather we ask
Him to give us something. But if we consider the
actual petition, then we do offer something to
God when we pray. For the very act of petitioning
is an act of subjection ; it is an acknowledgment
of God's power. And the proof of this is that proud
men would prefer to submit to want rather than
humble themselves by asking anything of others.
Further, the petitioner, by the very fact that he
petitions, acknowledges that he whom he petitions

* S. Matt. vii. 7.

Of Prayer 79

has the power to assist him, and is merciful, or just,
or provident ; it is for this reason that he hopes to be
heard. Hence petition or prayer is regarded as an
act of the virtue of rehgion, the object of which
is to give honour to God. For we honour God by
asking things of Him, and this by so much the
more as — whether from our manner of asking or
from the nature of what we ask for — we acknow-
ledge Him to be above all things, to be our Creator,
our Provider, our Redeemer, etc. And this is what
S. Thomas points out in the body of the Article.
But if we consider the petitioner : then, since man
petitions with his mind — for petition is an act of
the mind — and since the mind is the noblest thing
in man, it follows that by petitioning we submit
to God that which is noblest in us, since we use it
to ask things of Him, and thereby do Him honour.
Thus by prayer we offer our minds in sacrifice to
God ; so, too, by bending the knee to Him we offer
to Him and sacrifice to Him our knees, by using
them to His honour {on 2. 2. 83. 3).

5. Augustine : I stand as a beggar at the gate,
He sleepeth not on Whom I call 1 Oh, may He
give me those three loaves ! For you remember the
Gospel ? Ah 1 see how good a thing it is to know
God's word ; those of you who have read it are
stirred within yourselves ! For you remember
how a needy man came to his friend's house and
asked for three loaves. And He says that he
sleepily replied to him : " I am resting, and my
children are with me asleep." But he persevered in
his request, and wrung from him by his impor-
tunity what his deserts could not get. But God

8o On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

wishes to give ; yet only to those who ask — lest
He should give to those who understand not. He
does not wish to be stirred up by your weariness !
For when you pray you are not being troublesome
to one who sleeps ; He slumhereth not nor sleeps
that keepeth Israel} . . . He, then, sleeps not ; see you
that your faith sleeps not ! {Enarr. in Ps. cii. lo).
5. Augustine : Some there are who either do not
pray at all, or pray but tepidly ; and this because,
forsooth, they have learnt from the Lord Himself^
that God knows, even before we ask Him, what is
necessary for us. But because of such folk are we
to say that these words are not true and therefore
to be blotted out of the Gospel ? Nay, rather, since
it is clear that God gives some things even to those
who do not ask — as, for instance, the beginnings of
faith — and has prepared other things for those
only who pray for them — as, for instance, final
perseverance — it is evident that he who fancies
he has this latter of himself does not pray to have
it {Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39).

*' I will sing to the Lord as long as I live ; I will
sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let
my speech be acceptable to Him ; but I will take
delight in the Lord."3

IV

Ought We to pray to God Alone ?

In Job V. I we read : Call, now, if there be any
that will answer thee, and turn to so7ne of the Saints.

Prayer is addressed to a person in two ways :
in one way as a petition to be granted by him ;
» Ps. cxx. 4. 2 s. Matt. vi. 8. » Ps, ciii. 33, 34.

Of Prayer 8i

in another way as a petition to be forwarded by
him. In the former way we only pray to God,
for all our prayers ought to be directed to the
attaining of grace and glory, and these God alone
gives : The Lord will give grace and glory} But in
the latter way we set forth our prayers both to
the holy Angels and to men ; and this, not that
through their intervention God may know our
petitions, but rather that by their prayers and
merits our petitions may gain their end. Hence it
is said in the Apocalypse : And the smoke of the
incense of the prayers of the Saints ascended up
before God from the hand of the Angel. ^ And this is
clearly shown, too, from the style adopted by the
Church in her prayers : for of the Holy Trinity
we pray that mercy may be shown us ; but of all
the Saints, whomsoever they may be, we pray that
they may intercede for us.

Some, however, maintain that we ought to pray
to God alone, thus :

I. Prayer is an act of the virtue of religion.
But only God is to be worshipped by the virtue
of religion. Consequently it is to Him alone that
we should pray.

But in our prayers we only show religious
worship to Him from Whom we hope to
obtain what we ask, for by so doing we confess
Him to be the Author of all our goods ; but we
do not show religious worship to those whom
we seek to have as intercessors with us before
God.

^ Ps. Ixxxiii. 12. 2 viii. 4.

6

82 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

2. Again, prayer to those who cannot know what
we pray for is idle. But God alone can know our
prayers, and this because prayer is frequently a
purely interior act of which God alone is cognizant,
as the Apostle says : / will pray with the spirit.
I will pray also with the understanding ;^ and also
because, as S. Augustine says^ : The dead know not,
not even the Saints, what the living — not even
excepting their own children — are doing.

It is true that the dead, if we consider only
their natural condition, do not know what is
done on earth, and especially do they not know
the interior movements of the heart. But to
the Blessed, as S. Gregory says,^ manifestation
is made in the Divine Word of those things
which it is fitting that they should know as
taking place in our regard, even the interior
movements of the heart. And, indeed, it is
most befitting their state of excellence that
they should be cognizant of petitions addressed
to them, whether vocally or mentally. Hence
through God's revelation they are cognizant of
the petitions which we address them.

3. Lastly, some say : if we do address prayers
to any of the Saints, the sole reason for doing so
lies in the fact that they are closely united to God.
But we do not address prayers to people who, while
still living in this world, are closely knit to God,
nor to those who are in Purgatory and are united to
Him. There seems, then, to be no reason why we
should address prayers to the Saints in Paradise.

^ I Cor. xiv. 15.

2 On Care for the Dead, chaps, xiii., xv., xvi.

^ Moralia in Job, xii. 14.

Of Prayer 83

But they who are still in the world or in
Purgatory do not as yet enjoy the vision of
the Divine Word so as to be able to know what
we think or say, hence we do not implore their
help when we pray ; though when talking with
living people we do ask them to help us.

* * * ^ 4s

S. Augustine : It is no great thing to live long,
nor even to live for ever ; but it is indeed a great
thing to live well. Oh, let us love eternal life !
And we realize how earnestly we ought to strive for
that eternal life when we note how men who love
this present temporal life so work for it — though
it is to pass away — that, when the fear of death
comes, they strive all they can, not, indeed, to do
away with death, but to put death off ! How men
labour when death approaches ! They flee from it ;
they hide from it ; they give all they have ; they try
to buy themselves off ; they work and strive ; they
put up with tortures and inconveniences ; they call
in physicians ; they do everything that lies within
their power ! Yet even if they spend all their toil and
their substance, they can only secure that they may
live a little longer, not that they may live for ever !
If, then, men spend such toil, such endeavour, so
much money, so much anxiety, watchfulness, and
care, in order to live only a little longer, what ought
we not to do that we may live for ever ? And
if we call them prudent who take every possible
precaution to stave off death, to live but a few
days more, to save just a few days, then how
foolish are they who so pass their days as to lose
the Day of Eternity I {Sermon, cxxvii. 2).

84 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

" May God have mercy on us, and bless us : may
He cause the light of His countenance to shine
upon us, and may He have mercy on us. That we
may know Thy way upon earth : Thy salvation in
all nations. Let people confess to Thee, O God :
let all people give praise to Thee. Let the nations
be glad and rejoice : for Thou judgest the people
with justice, and directest the nations upon earth.
Let the people, O Gk)d, confess to Thee : let all the
people give praise to Thee : the earth hath yielded
her fruit. May God, our God bless us, may God
bless us : and all the ends of the earth fear
Him."i

V

Should We in our Prayers ask for Anything
Definite from God ?

Our Lord taught the disciples to ask definitely
for the things which are contained in the petitions
of the Lord's Prayer : Thus shall Ihou pray.^

Maximus Valerius tells of Socrates" that he
" maintained that nothing further should be asked
of the immortal gods save that they should give us
good things ; and this on the ground that they knew
well what was best for each individual, whereas we
often ask in our prayers for things which it would
be better not to have asked for." And this opinion
has some truth in it as regards those things which
can turn out ill, or which a man can use well or
ill, as, for example, riches which, as the same
Socrates says, ** have been to the destruction of
many ; or honours which have ruined many ; or

* Ps. Ixvi. 2 s. Matt. vi. 9-13 ; S. Luke xi. 2-4.

' Of Socrates the Philosopher, vii. 21.

Of Prayer 85

the possession of kingdoms, the issues of which
are so often ill-fated ; or splendid matrimonial
alliances, which have sometimes proved the ruin
of families." But there are certain good things of
which a man cannot make a bad use — those, namely,
which cannot have a bad issue. And these are the
things by which we are rendered blessed and by
which we merit beatitude ; these are the things
for which the Saints pray unconditionally : Show
us Thy Face and we shall be saved ;^ and again :
Lead me along the path of Thy commandments ?

Some, however, say that we ought not in
our prayers to ask for definite things from God,
thus :

I . S. John Damascene defines prayer as " asking
from God things that are fitting ";^ consequently
prayer for things which are not expedient is of no
efficacy, as S. James says : You ask and receive
not, because you ask amiss. '^ Moreover, S. Paul
says : We know not what we should pray for as
we ought. ^

But it is also true that though a man cannot
of himself know what he ought to pray for,
yet, as the Apostle says in the same place :
In this the Spirit helpeth our infirmity — namely,
in that, by inspiring us with holy desires. He
makes us ask aright. Hence Our Lord says
that the true adorers must adore in spirit and
in truth. ^

* Ps. Ixxix. 4. a ps. cxviii. 35.

^ On the Orthodox Faith, iii. 24. * iv. 3

5 Rom. viii. 26. « S. John iv. 24.

86 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

2. Further, he who asks from another some
definite thing strives to bend that other's will to
do what the petitioner wants. But we ought not
to direct our prayers towards making God will what
we will, but rather we should will what He wills
— as the Gloss says on the words of Ps. xxxii. i:
Rejoice in the Lord, 0 ye just! It would seem,
therefore, that we ought not to ask for definite
things from God when we pray.

Yet when in our prayers we ask for things
which appertain to our salvation, we are con-
forming our will to the will of God, for of His
will it is said : He will have all men to be saved}

3. Lastly, evil things cannot be asked from God ;
and He Himself invites us to receive good things.
But it is idle for a person to ask for what he is
invited to receive.

God, it is true, invites us to receive good
things ; but He wishes us to come to them
— not, indeed, by the footsteps of the body —
but by pious desires and devout prayers.

*****

S. Augustine : Fly, then, by unwavering faith
and holy habits, fly, brethren, from those torments
where the torturers never desist, and where the
tortured never die ; whose death is unending, and
where in their anguish they cannot die. But burn
with love for and desire of the eternal life of the
Saints where there is no longer the life of toil
nor yet wearisome repose. For the praises of
God will beget no disgust, neither will they ever

* I Tim. ii. 4.

Of Prayer 87

cease. There will there be no weariness of the
soul, no bodily fatigue ; there will there be no wants :
neither wants of your own which will call for suc-
cour, nor wants of your neighbour demanding your
speedy help. God will be all your delight ; there
will ye find the abundance of that Holy City that
from Him draws life and happily and wisely lives in
Him. For there, according to that promise of His
for which we hope and wait, we shall be made equal
to the Angels of God ; and equally with them shall
we then enjoy that vision of the Holy Trinity in
which we now but walk by faith. For we now
believe what we do not see, that so by the merits
of that same faith we then may merit to see what
we believe, and may so hold fast to it that the
EquaHty of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and the
Unity of the Trinity, may no longer come to us
under the garb of faith, nor be the subject of con-
tentious talk, but may rather be what we may
drink in in purest and deepest contemplation amid
the silence of Eternity {De Catechizandis Rudibus,
XXV. 47).

S. Augustine : O Lord, my God, give me what
Thou biddest and then bid what Thou wilt I Thou
biddest us be continent. And I knew, as a certain
one says, that I could not otherwise be continent
save God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom
to know Whose gift it was. Now by continence we
are knit together and brought back into union
with that One from Whom we have wandered
away after many things. For he loves Thee but
little who loves other things with Thee, and loves
them not for Thee ! O Love that ever burnest

88 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

and wilt never be extinguished ! O Charity 1 O t
Lord, my God, set me on fire ! Thou dost bid j
continence ? Then give me what Thou biddest
and bid what Thou wilt ! {Confessions, X. xxix.).

S. Augustine : O Lord, my God, hsten to my
prayer and mercifully hear my desire ! For my
desire burns not for myself alone, but fraternal
charity bids it be of use. And Thou seest in my
heart that it is so; for I would offer to Thee in
sacrifice the service of my thoughts and of my
tongue. Grant me then what I may offer to Thee.
For I am needy and poor, and Thou art rich
towards all that call upon Thee; for in peace and
tranquillity hast Thou care for us. Circumcise,
then, my hps, within and without, from all rashness
and all untruthfulness. May Thy Scriptures be
my chaste delight; may I never be deceived in
them nor deceive others out of them. Attend, O
Lord, and have mercy upon me, O Lord, my God.
Thou art the Light of the blind, the Strength of
the weak, and so, too, art Thou the Light of them
that see and the Strength of them that are
strong. Look, then, on my soul, and hear me
when I cry from out the depths ! {Confessions,
XL ii. 2).

" Look down from Heaven, and behold from Thy
holy habitation and the place of Thy glory : where
is Thy zeal, and Thy strength, the multitude of
Thy bowels, and of Thy mercies ? they have held
back themselves from me. For Thou art our Father,
and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath
been ignorant of us : Thou, O Lord, art our Father,
our Redeemer, from everlasting is Thy Name."^

^ Isa. Ixiii. 15, 16.

Of Prayer 8g

VI

Ought We in our Prayers to ask for Temporal
Things from God ?

We have the authority of the Book of Proverbs
for answering in the affirmative, for there we read^:
Give tne only the necessaries of life.

S . Augustine says to Proba^: " It is lawful to pray for
what it is lawful to desire." But it is lawful to desire
temporal things, not indeed as our principal aim or
as something which we make our end, but rather
as props and stays which may be of assistance to us
in our striving for the possession of God ; for by such
things our bodily life is sustained, and such things,
as the Philosopher says, co-operate organically to
the production of virtuous acts.^ Consequently it
is lawful to pray for temporal things. And this is
what S. Augustine means when he says to Proba:
" Not unfittingly does a person desire sufficiency
for this life when he desires it and nothing more;
for such sufficiency is not sought for its own sake
but for the body's health, and for a mode of life
suitable to a man's position so that he may not
be a source of inconvenience to those with whom
he lives. When, then, we have these things we
must pray that we may retain them, and when we
have not got them we must pray that we may have
them.^

Some, however, argue that we ought not to pray
for temporal things, thus :

I. What we pray for we seek. But we are for-

^ XXX. 8. 2 £p_ CXXX., chap. xii.

3 Ethics, I. vii. 15. * Ep., CXXX., chap. vi.

90 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

bidden to seek for temporal things, for it is said:
Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and His
justice, and all these things shall be added unto you,^
those temporal things, namely, which He says are
not to be sought but which are to be added to the
things which we seek.

But temporal things are to be sought
secondarily not primarily. Hence S. Augus-
tine^ : " When He says the former is to be
sought first (namely the kingdom of God), He
means that the latter (namely temporal good
things) are to be sought afterwards ; not after-
wards in point of time, but afterwards in point
of importance; the former as our good, the
latter as our need.

2. Again, we only ask for things about which
we are solicitous. But we are not allowed to be
solicitous about temporal concerns : Be not solicitous
for your life, what ye shall eat^ ....

But not all soHcitude about temporal affairs
is forbidden, only such as is superfluous and
out of due order.

3. Further, we ought in prayer to upUft our
minds to God. But by asking for temporal things
in prayer our mind descends to things beneath it,
and this is contrary to the teaching of the Apostle :
While we look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal : but the things which
are not seen are eternal!^

^ S. Matt. vi. 33. 2 On the Sermon on the Mount, II. x. i.
3 S. Matt. vi. 25. * 2 Cor. iv. 18.

Of Prayer 91

When our mind is occupied with temporal
affairs so as to set up its rest in them then it
remains in them, and is depressed by them;
but when the mind turns to them as a means
of attaining to eternal life it is not depressed
by them, but rather uphfted by them.

4. Lastly, men ought not to pray except for
things useful and good. But temporal possessions
are at times hurtful, and this not merely spiritually
but even temporally; hence a man ought not to
ask them of God.

But it is clear that since we do not seek
temporal things primarily or for their own
sake, but with reference to something else,
we consequently only ask them of God accord-
ing as they may be expedient for our salvation.

* * * * :t:

5. Augustine : Lord, all my desire is before Thee,
and my groaning is not hid frotn Thee f^ It is not
before men who cannot see the heart, but before
Thee is all my desire I And let your desires, too, be
before Him, and your Father Who seeth in secret
will repay thee. For your very desire is a prayer,
and if your desire is continual your prayer, too, is
continual. Not without reason did the Apostle
say: Pray without ceasing? Yet can we genuflect
without ceasing ? Can we prostrate without ceas-
ing ? Can we lift up our hands without ceasing ?
How, then, does he say: Pray without ceasing?
If by prayer he meant such things as these
then I think we could not pray without ceasing.
But there is another prayer, an interior prayer,

^ Ps. xxxvii. 10. 2 J Thess. v. 17.

92 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

which is without ceasing — desire. Whatever else
you do, if only you desire that resf^ you cease not
to pray. If you wish to pray without ceasing then
desire without ceasing. Your continual desire is
your continual voice ; but you will be silent if you
cease to love {Enarr. in Ps. xxxvii. lo).

S. Augustine : But all these things are the gifts
of my God ; I did not give them to myself; they are
good, and all these things am I. He then is good
Who made me; nay. He Himself is my Good, and
in Him do I rejoice for all the good things which I
had even as a boy ! But in this did I sin that, not
in Him but in His creatures did I seek myself and
other pleasures, high thoughts and truths. Thus
it was that I fell into sorrow, confusion, and error.
Thanks be to Thee, my Sweetness, my Honour
and my Trust, O my God I Thanks be to Thee
for Thy gifts 1 But do Thou keep them for me !
For so doing Thou wilt be keeping me, and those
things which Thou hast given me will be increased
and perfected, and I myself shall be with Thee, for
even that I should be at all is Thy gift to me 1
{Confessions, I. xx. 2).

S. Augustine: But I forget not, neither will I
keep silence regarding the severity of Thy scourge
and the wondrous swiftness of Thy mercy. Thou
didst torture me with toothache ; and when the
pain had become so great that I could not even
speak, it came into my mind to tell all my friends
who were there to pray to Thee for me, to Thee the
God of all manner of succour. And I wrote my
request on a wax tablet and I gave it them to read.

1 Heb. iv. 3.

Of Prayer 93

And hardly had we bent the knee in humble prayer
than the pain fled ! But what a pain it was ! And
how did it disappear ? I was terrified, I confess
it, O Lord my God ! Never in all my life had I
felt anything like it ! {Confessions, IX. iv. 12).

It is narrated of S. Thomas that when at Paris
it happened that having to lecture at the University
on a subject which he had commenced the day
before, he rose at night to pray as was his wont,
but discovered that a tooth had suddenly pushed
its way through his gums in such a way that he
could not speak. His companion suggested that
since it was an inopportune time for procuring
assistance a message should be sent to the Uni-
versity stating what had happened and pointing
out that the lecture could not be given till the tooth
had been removed by a surgeon. But S. Thomas,
reflecting upon the difficulty in which the University
would be placed, considering also the danger which
might arise from the removal of the tooth in the
way suggested, said to his companion: I see no
remedy save to trust to God's Providence. He
then betook himself to his accustomed place of
prayer, and for a long space besought God with
tears to grant him this favour, leaving himself
entirely in His hands. And when he had thus
prayed he took the tooth between his fingers, and
it came out at once without the slightest pain or
wrench, and he found himself freed from the
impediment to his speech which it had caused.
This tooth he carried about with him for a long
time as a reminder of an act of Divine loving-
kindness such as he was anxious not to forget, for

94 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

forgetfulness is the mother of ingratitude; he
wished it, too, to move him to still greater confi-
dence in the power of prayer which had on that
occasion been so quickly heard (see Vita S.
Thomce, Bollandists, March 7, vol. i., 1865, pp.673,
704, 712).

S. Augustine : But temporal things are some-
times for our profit, sometimes for our hurt. For
many poverty was good, wealth did them harm.
For many a hidden life was best, high station did
them harm. And on the other hand money was
good for some, and dignities, too, were good for
them — good, that is, for those who used them well;
but such things did harm when not taken away
from those who used them ill. Consequently,
brethren, let us ask for these temporal things with
moderation, being sure that if we do receive them,
He gives them Who knoweth what is best suited
to us. You have asked for something, then, and
what you asked for has not been given you?
Believe in your Father Who would give it you if it
were expedient for you {Sermon, Ixxx. 7).

S. Augustine : Sometimes God in His wrath
grants what you ask; at other times in His mercy
He refuses what you ask. When, then, you ask
of Him things which He praises, which He com-
mands, things which He has promised us in the
next world, then ask in confidence and be instant
in prayer as far as in you lies, that so you may
receive what you ask. For such things as these
are granted by the God of mercy; they flow not
from His wrath but from His compassion. But
when you ask for temporal things, then ask with

Of Prayer 95

moderation, ask with fear; leave all to Him so that
if they be for your profit He may give them you, if
they be to your hurt He may refuse them. For what
is for our good and what is to our hurt the Physician
knoweth, not the patient {Sermon, cccliv. 8).

"Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall
sustain thee ; He shall not suffer the just to waver
for ever."^

vn

Ought We to Pray for Others ?

S. James, in his Epistle, says^ : Pray for one another
that ye may be saved.

As we said above, we ought in prayer to ask for
those things which we ought to desire. But we
ought to desire good things not for ourselves only
but also for others, for this belongs to that charity
which we ought to exercise towards our neighbour.
Hence charity demands that we pray for others.
In accordance with this S. Chrysostom says^:
" Necessity compels us to pray for ourselves,
fraternal charity urges us to pray for others. But
that prayer is more pleasing before God which
arises not so much from our needs as from the
demands of fraternal charity."

Some, however, urge that we ought not to pray
for others, thus :

I . We are bound in our prayer to follow the norm
which our Lord delivered to us ; but in the Lord's
Prayer we pray for ourselves and not for others,
for we say: Give us this day our daily bread, etc.

^ Ps. liv. 23. 2 v_ j5_

^ opus Imperf. in Malthcstim, Horn. XIV.

96 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

But S. Cyprian says^: " We do not say my
Father, but our Father, neither do we say
Give me, but give us ; and this because the
Teacher of Unity did not wish prayer to be
made privately, viz., that each should pray
for himself alone; for He wished one to pray
for all since He in His single Person had borne
all."

2. Again, we pray in order to be heard; but one
of the conditions for our prayer to be heard is
that a man should pray for himself. Thus on the
words : // ye ask the Father anything in My Name
He will give it you^ S. Augustine says^: " All are
heard for themselves, but not for all in general,
hence He does not say simply : He will give it, but
He will give it you."

But to pray for oneself is a condition attach-
ing to prayer ; not indeed a condition affecting
its merit, but a condition which is necessary
if we would ensure the attainment of what
we ask. For it sometimes happens that prayer
made for another does not avail even though
it be devout and persevering and for things
pertaining to a man's salvation; and this is
because of the existence of some hindrance
on the part of him for whom we pray, as we read
in Jeremias"*: // Moses and Samuel shall stand
before Me, My soul is not towards this people.
None the less, such prayer will be meritorious
on the part of him who prays, for he prays out

i On the Lord's Prayer. ^ S. John xvi. 23.

' Traciatus in Joannem, 102. * xv. i.

Of Prayer 97

of charity; thus on the words, And my prayer
shall be turned into my bosom,^ the Interhnear
Gloss has: " That is, and even though it avail
not for them, yet shall I not be without my
reward."

3. Lastly, we are forbidden to pray for others
if they are wicked, according to the words: Do
not thou pray for this people . . . and do not with'
stand Me, for I will not hear thee? And, on the
other hand, we ought not to pray for them if they
are good, for in that case they will be heard when
they pray for themselves.

But we have to pray even for sinners, that
they may be converted, and for the good, that
they may persevere and make progress. Our
prayers for sinners, however, are not heard
for all, but for some. For they are heard for
those who are predestined, not for those who
are foreknown as reprobate; just in the same
way as when we correct our brethren, such
corrections avail among the predestinate but
not among the reprobate, according to the
words : No man can correct whom He hath
despised? Wherefore also it is said: He that
knoweth his brother to sin a sin that is not unto
death, let him ask, and life shall be given to
him who sinneth not to death. '^ But just as we
can refuse to no one, as long as he liveth on
this earth, the benefit of correction — for we
cannot distinguish between the predestinate

^ Ps. xxxiv. 13. 2 jer^ yij i5

3 Eccles. vii. 14. * i John v. 16.

7

gS On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

and the reprobate, as S. Augustine says^ — so
neither can we refuse to anyone the suffrage of
our prayers.

And for good men we have to pray, and this
for a threefold reason: firstly, because the
prayers of many are more easily heard; thus
on the words: / beseech ye therefore, help me
inyour prayers for me^ the Ordinary Gloss of
S. Ambrose says: " Well does the Apostle ask
his inferiors to pray for him ; for even the very
least become great when many in number,
and when gathered together with one mind;
and it is impossible that the prayers of many
should not avail " to obtain, that is, what is
obtainable. And secondly, that thanks may
be returned by many for the benefits conferred
by God upon the just, for these same benefits
tend to the profit of many — as is evident from
the Apostle's words to the Corinthians.^ And
thirdly, that those who are greater may not
therefore be proud, but may realize that they
need the suffrages of their inferiors.

" Father, I will that where I am they also whom
Thou hast given Me may be with Me; that they
may see My glory, which Thou hast given Me:
because Thou hast loved Me before the foundation
of the world."*

* De CorrepHonibus et Gratia, cap. xv.

2 Rom. XV. 30. 3 I Cor. i. n. * S. John xxii. 24.

Of Prayer 99

VIII

Ought We to Pray for Our Enemies ?

But I say to you . . . pray for them that persecute
and calumniate you}

To pray for others is a work of charity, as we
have said above. Hence we are bound to pray for
our enemies in the same way as we are bound to
love them. We have already explained, in the
Treatise on Charity, in what sense we are bound
to love our enemies; namely, that we are bound
to love their nature, not their fault; and that to
love our enemies in general is of precept; to love
them, however, individually, is not of precept save
in the sense of being prepared to do so; a man, for
instance, is bound to be ready to love an individual
enemy and to help him in case of necessity, or if
he comes to seek his pardon. But absolutely to love
our individual enemies, and to assist them, belongs
to perfection.

In the same way, then, it is necessary that in
our general prayers for others we should not exclude
our enemies. But to make special prayer for them
belongs to perfection and is not necessary, save in
some particular cases.

Some, however, argue that we ought not to pray
for our enemies, thus:

I. It is said in the Epistle to the Romans^: What
things soever were written were written for our learning.
But in Holy Scripture we find many imprecations
against enemies ; thus, for instance^: Let all my enemies
be ashamed, let them be turned back and be ashamed
1 S. Matt. V. 44. 2 XV. 4. 3 ps. vi. ii.

100 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

very speedily . From which it would rather seem that
we ought to pray against our enemies than for them.

But the imprecations which find place in
Holy Scripture can be understood in four
different ways: first of all according as the
Prophets are wont " to predict the future under
the figure of imprecations," as S. Augustine
says^; secondly, in that certain temporal evils
are sometimes sent by God upon sinners for
their amendment; thirdly, these denunciations
may be understood, not as demanding the
punishment of men themselves, but as directed
against the kingdom of sin, in the sense that
by men being corrected sin may be destroyed;
fourthly, in that the Prophets conform their
wills to the Divine Justice with regard to the
damnation of sinners who persevere in their sin.

2. Further, to be revenged upon our enemies
means evil for our enemies. But the Saints seek
to be avenged upon their enemies: How long, O
Lord, dost Thou not judge and revenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth ?'^ And in accordance
with this we find them rejoicing in the vengeance
taken upon sinners : The just shall rejoice when he shall
see the revenge? It would seem, then, that we ought
rather to pray against our enemies than for them.

But, on the contrary, as S. Augustine says'*:
" The vengeance of the martyrs is the over-

1 On the Sermon on the Mount, i. 21.
3 Apoc. vi. 10. 3 Ps. Ivii. 11.

* On the Sermon on the Mount, i. 22, and Questions on the
Gospels, II., xlv.

Of Prayer loi

throw of the empire of sin under whose
dominion they suffered so much "; or, as he
says elsewhere^: " They demand vengeance,
not by word of mouth, but by very reason,
just as the blood of Abel cried out from the
earth." Moreover, they rejoice in this ven-
geance, not for its own sake, but because of
the Divine Justice.

3. Lastly, a man's deeds and his prayers cannot
be in opposition. But men sometimes quite law-
fully attack their enemies, else all wars would be
illegal. Hence we ought not to pray for our
enemies.

But it is lawful to assail our enemies that
so they may be hindered from sin; and this is
for their good and for that of others. In the
same way, then, it is lawful to pray for tem-
poral evils for our enemies to the end that they
may be corrected. In this sense our deeds
and our prayers are not in opposition.

S. Augustine : If there were no wicked folk, then
for whom could we be supposed to pray when we are
told : Pray for your enemies ? Perhaps you would
like to have good enemies. Yet how could that be?
For unless you yourself are bad you will not have
good people for enemies; and if, on the contrary,
you are good, then no one will be your enemy save
the wicked folk {Sermon, xv., on Ps. xxv. 8).

^ Questions on the Old and New Testament, Qu. Ixviii.

102 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

" Have mercy upon us, O God of all, and behold
us, and shew us the light of Thy mercies: And send
Thy fear upon the nations, that have not sought
after Thee : that they may know that there is no
God beside Thee, and that they may shew forth
Thy wonders. Lift up Thy hand over the strange
nations, that they may see Thy power. "^

IX

On the Seven Petitions of the Lord's

Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of all
prayers, for, as S. Augustine says to Proba^: " If
we pray rightly and fittingly we can say nothing
else but what is set down in the Lord's Prayer."
And since prayer is, in a sort, the interpreter of
our desires before God, we can only rightly ask in
prayer for those things which we can rightly desire.
But in the Lord's Prayer not only do we have
petitions for all those things which we can rightly
desire, but they are set forth in the order in which
they are to be desired. Hence this prayer not
only teaches us how to pray, but serves as the norm
of all our dispositions of mind.

For it is clear that we desire first the end and
then the means to the attainment of that end.
But our end is God, towards Whom our desires tend
in two ways: first, in that we desire God's glory;
secondly, in that we desire to enjoy that glory
ourselves. The former of these pertains to that
love wherewith we love God in Himself, the latter
to that charity wherewith we love ourselves in God.
Hence the first petition runs : Hallowed be Thy Name,
* Ecclus. xxxvi. 1-3. 2 £p cxxx. 12.

Of Prayer 103

wherein we pray for God's glory; and the second
runs: Thy kingdom come, wherein we pray that we
may come to the glory of His kingdom.

But to this said end things lead us in two ways :
viz., either essentially or accidentally. Things which
are useful for the attainment of that end essentially
lead us to it. But a thing may be useful as regards
that end which is the possession of God in two ways :
namely, directly and principally , that is, according to
the merits by which we merit the possession of God
by obeying Him; and in accordance with this runs
the petition: Thy Will be done on earth as it is in
Heaven ; also instrumentally as assisting us to merit,
whence the petition: Give us this day our daily
bread. And this is true whether we understand
by this " bread " that Sacramental Bread, the
daily use of Which profits man, and in Which are
comprised all the other Sacraments; or whether
we understand it of material bread so that " bread "
here means all that is sufficient for the support of
life — as S. Augustine explains it to Proba.^ For
both the Holy Eucharist is the chief of Sacraments,
and bread is the chief of foods, whence in the
Gospel of S. Matthew we have the term " super-
substantial " or " special " applied to it, as S.
Jerome explains it.^

And we are lead, as it were, accidentally to the
possession of God by the removal of impediments
from our path. Now there are three things which
impede us in our efforts after the possession of God.
The first of these is sin, which directly excludes us

^ Ep. cxxx. II.

2 Comment, on S. Matthew, vi.

104 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

from the kingdom : Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
. . .etc., shall possess the kingdom of God'^ hence the
petition: Forgive us our trespasses. . . . And the
second impediment is temptation which hinders us
from obeying the Divine Will ; whence the petition :
And lead us not into temptation; in which petition
we do not pray that we may not be tempted, but
that we may not be overcome by temptation, for
this is the meaning of being led into temptation.
And the third hindrance lies in our present penal
state which prevents us from having " the suffi-
ciency of life "; and for this reason we say: Deliver
us from evil.

Some, however, argue that these seven petitions
are not very appropriate, thus :

I. It seems idle to pray that that may be
hallowed which is already hallowed or holy. But
the Name of God is holy: And holy is His Name.^
Similarly, His kingdom is everlasting: Thy kingdom,
O Lord, is a kingdom of all ages.^ God's Will, too,
is always fulfilled: And all My Will shall be done^
Hence it is idle to pray that God's Name may be
hallowed, that His kingdom may come, and that
His Will may be done.

But, as S. Augustine says,^ when we say,
Hallowed he Thy Name, we do not make this
petition as though God's Name were not holy,
but that It may be held holy by men; in
other words, that God's glory may be propa-
gated amongst men. And when we say. Thy

* I Cor. vi. 9, lo. 2 s. Luke i. 49. 3 Ps. cxliv. 13.

• Isa. xlvi. 10. '^ On the Sermon on the Mount, ii. 5.

Of Prayer 105

kingdom come, it is not as though we meant
that God did not reign, but, as S. Augustine
says to Proba^: " We stir up our desires for
that kingdom, that it may come upon us and
that we may reign in it." Lastly, when we
say, Thy Will be done, this is rightly under-
stood to mean : May Thy precepts be obeyed
on earth as in Heaven — that is, as by Angels,
so by men. These three petitions, then, will
receive their perfect fulfilment in the life to
come; but the remaining four, as S. Augustine
says, refer to the necessities of the present life.^

2. But further, to depart from evil must precede
the pursuit of what is good. Hence it hardly seems
appropriate to place those petitions which are con-
cerned with the pursuit of what is good before those
which refer to the departing from evil.

Yet since prayer is the interpreter of our
desires the order of these petitions does not
correspond to the order of attainment but of
desire or intention ; in this order, however, the
end precedes the means to the end, the pursuit
of good comes before the departure from evil.

3. But once more, we ask for something in order
that it may be given us. But the chief gift of God
is the Holy Spirit and those things which are given
us through Him. Hence these petitions do not
seem to be very appropriate since they do not
correspond to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

* Ep. cxxx. II. 2 Enchiridion, 115.

io6 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

S. Augustine^, however, adapts these seven
petitions to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and
to the Beatitudes ; he says : " If we have the fear
of God by which the poor in spirit are blessed,
we pray that God's Name may be hallowed
among men by chaste fear. If we have piety,
by which the meek are blessed, we pray that
His kingdom may come, that we may be meek,
and that we may not withstand It. If we
have knowledge, by which they that mourn are
blessed, we pray that His will may be done,
and that so we may not mourn. If we have
fortitude, by which they that hunger are
blessed, we pray that our daily bread may be
given us. If we have counsel, by which they
that are merciful are blessed, let us forgive
our debtors that we ourselves may be forgiven.
If we have understanding, by which the clean
of heart are blessed, let us pray that we
may not have a double heart that pursues
after temporal things whence temptations come
to us. If we have wisdom, whence the
peace-makers are blessed — for they shall
be called the sons of God — let us pray
that we may be delivered from evil, for that
very deliverance will make us the free sons
of God."

4. Again, according to S. Luke ,2 there are only
five petitions in the Lord's Prayer. Hence it
would seem superfluous to have seven in S.
Matthew.

* On the Sermon on the Mount, ii. 11. ^ ^j. 2-4.

Of Prayer 107

But, as S. Augustine says^: " S. Luke only
includes five petitions and not seven in the
Lord's Prayer, for he shows that the third
petition is, in a sense, only a repetition of the
two preceding ones; by omitting it he makes
us see that God's will is more especially con-
cerned with our knowledge of His sanctity
and with our reigning with Him. But Luke
has omitted Matthew's last petition. Deliver us
from evil, in order to show us that we are
delivered from evil just precisely as we are not
led into temptation."
5- And lastly, it seems idle to try to stir up
the benevolence of one who is beforehand with his
benevolence. But God does forestall us with His
benevolence, for He hath first loved us? Conse-
quently it seems superfluous to preface our petitions
with the words Our Father Who art in Heaven,
words which seem intended to stir up God's
benevolence.

But we must remember that prayer is not
directed to God in order to prevail upon Him,
but in order to excite ourselves to confidence
in our petitions. And this confidence is
especially excited in us by consideration of
His love towards us whereby He wishes us
well, wherefore we say. Our Father ; and of
His pre-eminent power whereby He is able to
assist us, whence we say. Who art in Heaven.

* * * :i^ if

Cajetan : The first three petitions of the Lord's
Prayer can also be referred to that which we
^ Enchiridion, ii6. ^ i John iv. 19.

io8 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

principally desire, so that all three regard mainly
that love wherewith we love God in Himself, and
secondarity that love wherewith we love ourselves
in God. And the proof of this is that in each of
the first three we have the pronoun Thine, but in
the last four the pronoun our. Thus the first
petition asks for the effective and enduring praise
of God's Name; the second, that He — and not the
devil, nor the world, nor the flesh, nor sin — may
reign effectively; the third, that His Will may be
effectively fulfilled. For these things are not now
absolutely so with God, and this by reason of the
multitude of sins, and also because the mode of
their present fulfilment is hidden. And the word
effectively is introduced into each clause by reason
of the subjoined qualification on earth as it is in
Heaven, for this qualifies each of the foregoing
clauses. Hence rightly do our desires first of all
aim at, wish for, and pray that — even as something
good for God Himself — He may be sanctified in
His Name; that He may be permanently uplifted
above all things — on earth as in Heaven; that He —
not sin — may reign — on earth as in Heaven; that
His Will — none other — may be done — on earth as
in Heaven {on 2. 2. 83. 9).

S. Augustine : O Eternal Truth, True Love and
lovable Eternity ! Thou art my God ; for Thee do I
sigh night and day ! And when I first knew Thee
Thou didst snatch me up so that I saw that That
really was Which I saw, and that I who saw was
really not — as yet. And Thou didst beat back
my weak gaze, pouring out Thy light upon me in
its intensity; and I trembled with love and with

Of Prayer 109

horror. For I found myself to be far away from
Thee in a land that was unlike Thee; it was as
though I heard Thy Voice from on high, saying:
" I am the Food of grown men, grow, and thou
shalt eat Me, but thou shalt not be changed into
Me " {Confessions, VII. x. 2).

S. Augustine : And the faithful are well aware
of that Spiritual Food Which you, too, will soon
know and Which you are to receive from God's
altar. It will be your food, nay, your daily food,
needful for this Hfe. For are we not about to
receive the Eucharist wherein we come to Christ
Himself, and begin to reign with Him for ever ?
The Eucharist is our daily Bread. But let us so
receive it as to be thereby refreshed, not in body
merely but in mind. For the power which we know
to be therein is the power of Unity whereby we are
brought into union with His Body and become His
members. Let us be What we receive; for then It
will be truly our daily bread.

Again, what I set before you is your daily
bread ; and what you hear read day by day in the
church is your daily bread; and the hymns you
hear and which you sing — they are your daily
bread . For these things we need for our pilgrimage.
But when we get There are we going to hear a book
read ? Nay, we are going to hear the Word Him-
self; we are going to see the Word Himself; we are
going to eat Him, to drink Him, even as the Angels
do already. Do the Angels need books, or dispu-
tations, or readers ? Nay, not so. But by seeing
they read, for they see the Truth Itself and are
sated from that Fount whence we receive but the

no On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

sprinkling of the dew {Sermon, Ivii., on S. Matt.
vi. 7).

S. Augustine : When ye say Give us this day
our daily bread, ye profess yourselves God's beggars.
Yet blush not at it ! The richest man on earth is
God's beggar. The beggar stands at the rich
man's door. But the rich man in his turn stands
at the door of one richer than he. He is begged
from, and he, too, has to beg. If he were not in
need he would not beseech God in prayer. But
what can the rich man need ? I dare to say it : he
needs even his daily bread ! For how is it that he
abounds with all things, save that God gave them
to him ? And what will they have if God but with-
draw His hand ? {Sermon, Ivi. 9, on S. Matt. vi.).

S. Augustine : Think not that you have no need
to say Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them
that trespass against us. . . . He who looks with
pleasure at what he should not — sins. Yet who
can control the glance of the eye ? Indeed, some
say that the eye is so called from its swiftness
{oculus a velocitate). Who can control his eyes or
his ears ? You can close your eyes when you like,
but how quickly they open again ! You can shut
your ears with an effort; put up your hand, and
you can touch them. But if someone holds your
hands your ears remain open, and you cannot then
shut out cursing words, impure words, flattering
and deceitful words. When you hear something
which you should not — do you not sin with your
ears ? What when you hear some evil thing with
pleasure ? And the death-dealing tongue 1 How
many sins it commits 1 {Sermon, Ivi. 8).

Of Prayer in

S. Augustine : Indeed, our whole righteousness —
true righteousness though it be, by reason of the
True Good to Whom it is referred, consists rather,
as long as we are in this life, in the remission of our
sins than in the perfection of our virtues. And
the proof of this is the Prayer of the whole City of
God which is in pilgrimage on this earth. For by
all Its members It cries to God : Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive them the trespass against us !
And this Prayer is of no avail for those whose faith
is without works — dead; but only for those whose
faith worketh through charity. For though our
reason is indeed subject to God, yet in this our
mortal condition, in this corruptible body which
weigheth down the soul, our reason does not per-
fectly control our vices, and hence such prayer as
this is needful for the righteous {Of the City of God,
xix. 27).

" Father, the hour is come ; glorify Thy Son,
that Thy Son may glorify Thee. As Thou hast
given Him power over all flesh, that He may give
life everlasting to all whom Thou hast given Him.
And this is life everlasting, that they may know
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom
Thou hast sent."^

' S. John xvii. 1-3.

112 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Rhythm in Honour of the Blessed Sacrament, said to

HAVE BEEN COMPOSED BY S. ThOMAS ON HIS DeATH-BeD.^

Adore Te devote, latens Deltas,
Quae sub his figuris vere latitas ;
Tibi se cor mcum totum subjicit,
Quia Te contemplans totum deficit.

Visus, tactus gustus, in Te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur ;
Credo quldquid dixit Dei Filius,
Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius.

In cruce latebat sola Deltas,
At hie latet simul et humanitas ;
Ambo tamen credens atque confitcns,
Peto quod petivit latro poenitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor,
Deum tamen meum Te confiteor ;
Fac me Tibi semper magis credere,
In Te spem habere, Te diligere.

O memoriale mortis Domini,
Pauls vlvus, vitam praestans homini,
Prsesta meae menti de To vivere,
Et Te nil semper dulce sapere.

Pie Pelllcane Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda Tuo Sanguine,
Cujus una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Jesu Quem velatum nunc aspiclo,
Oro fiat illud quod tam sltio,
Ut Te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beatus Tuae gloriae !

(An Indulgence of loo days for the recitation of this rhythm.
S. Congr. of Indulgences, December 20, 1884.)

1 See Touron, O.P., Vie de S. Thomas d'Aquin, p. 254 ; Paris,
1740.

Of Prayer 113

X

Is Prayer Peculiar to Rational Creatures ?

Prayer is an act of the reason, as we have shown
above. And rational creatures are so termed be-
cause of the possession of reason. Consequently
prayer is peculiar to them.

As we have said above, prayer is an act of the
reason by which a person pleads with his superior,
just in the same way as a command is an act of the
reason by which an inferior is directed to do some-
thing. Prayer, then, properly pertains to one who
has the use of reason and who also has a superior
with whom he can plead. The Persons of the
Trinity have no superior ; the brute animals have
no reason. Hence prayer belongs neither to the
Divine Persons nor to the brute creation, but is
peculiar to rational creatures.

Some, however, argue that prayer cannot be
peculiar to rational creatures, thus :

I . To ask and to receive belong to the same
person. But the Divine Persons receive: the Son,
namely, and the Holy Spirit. Consequently They
can also pray ; indeed it is the Son Himself Who says,
/ will ask the Father,'^ and the Apostle says of the
Holy Spirit, The Spirit Himself asketh for us.^

But it belongs to the Divine Persons to
receive by Their nature, whereas to pray
belongs to one who receives through grace.
The Son is said to ask or pray according to
the nature He took upon Himself — that is, ac-
cording to His Human, and not according to
* S. John xiv. 16. 2 Rom. viii. 26.

8

114 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

His Divine, Nature; the Holy Spirit, too, is
said to petition because He makes us petition.

2. But further, the Angels are superior to the
rational creation since they are intellectual sub-
stances ; but it belongs to the Angels to pray, for it
is said in the Psalm^: Adore Him, all ye His Angels.

But the intellect and the reason are not
different faculties in us, though they do differ
in the sense that one is more perfect than the
other. Consequently the intellectual creation,
such as are the Angels, is sometimes dis-
tinguished from the rational creation, but at
other times both are embraced under the one
term " rational." And it is in this latter sense
of the term " rational " that prayer is said to
be peculiar to the rational creation.

3 . Lastly , he prays who calls upon God ; for it is
chiefly by prayer that we call upon God. But the
brute animals also call upon God, for the Psalmist
says : Who giveth to beasts their food, and to the young
ravens that call upon Him?

But the young ravens are said to call upon God
by reason of those natural desires by which all
things, each in their own fashion, desire to obtain
the Divine goodness. In the same way brute
animals are said to obey God by reason of the
natural instinct by which they are moved by God .

" Reward them that patiently wait for Thee, that
Thy Prophets may be found faithful: and hear the
prayers of Thy servants. According to the blessing
of Aaron over Thy people, and direct us into the
way of justice, and let all know that dwell upon the
earth, that Thou art God the beholder of all ages."^

* xcvi. 7. 2 Ps. cxlvi. 9. ' Ecclus. xxxvi. 18, 19.

Of Prayer 115

XI

Do THE Saints in Heaven Pray for Us ?

This is he who prayeth much for the people and
for all the holy city, Jeremias the Prophet of God}

As S. Jerome says,^ Vigilantius's error lay in
maintaining that " while we live we can mutually
pray for one another; but after we are dead no one's
prayer for another is heard, and this is especially
clear in the case of the Martyrs who were unable to
obtain by their prayers vengeance for their blood."

But this is altogether false; for since prayer for
others springs from charity, the more perfect the
charity of those who are in Heaven the more they
pray for those wayfarers on earth who can be
helped by their prayers. And the more knit they
are to God the more efficacious are their prayers;
for the Divine harmony demands that the super-
abundance of those who are in the higher position
should redound upon those who are lower, just as
the brightness of the sun renders the atmosphere
itself luminous. Whence Christ Himself is said to
be Approaching of Himself to God to intercede for
us? Whence, too, S. Jerome's reply to Vigilantius :
" If the Apostles and Martyrs, when they were
still in the body, and had still to be solicitous on
their own account, prayed for others, how much
more when they have won the crown, when they
have gained the victory and the triumph ?"

Yet some maintain that the Blessed in Heaven do
not pray for us, thus :

^ 2 Mace. XV. 14. 2 Contra Vigilantium, vi.

' Heb. vii. 25. S. Thomas is quoting from memory.

ii6 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

1 . A man's acts are more meritorious for himself
than for another. But the Saints who are in Heaven
neither merit for themselves nor pray for them-
selves, for they have already attained the goal of
their desires. Hence neither do they pray for us.

But the Saints who are in our Fatherland
lack no Blessedness — since they are Blessed —
save the glory of the body, and for this they
pray. But they pray for us who still lack the
ultimate perfection of Blessedness; and their
prayers are efficacious by reason of their
previous merits and of the Divine acceptation
of their prayers.

2. But once more : the Saints are perfectly con-
formed to the Will of God, and consequently will
nothing but what He wills. But what God wills
is always fulfilled. Hence it is idle for the Saints
to pray for us.

But the Saints obtain that which God wills
should come about through the medium of their
prayers ; and they ask for what they think is, by
God's Will, to be fulfilled through their prayers.

3. And yet again : just as the Saints in Heaven
are superior to us so also are the}^ who are in
Purgatory — for they cannot sin. Those, however,
who are in Purgatory do not pray for us, but rather
we for them. It follows, then, that neither can the
Saints in Heaven pray for us.

But though those who are in Purgatory are
superior to us in that they cannot sin, yet are
they our inferiors as regards the penalties they

Of Prayer 117

suffer ; hence they are not in a state to pray for
us, but rather we for them.

4. Once more : if the Saints in Heaven could pray
for us it would follow that the prayers of the
holiest Saints would be the most efficacious, and
that consequently we ought not to ask the inferior
Saints to pray for us, but only the greatest ones.

But God desires inferior things to be helped
by all that are superior, and consequently we
have to implore the aid of not only the chief
Saints but also of the lesser ; else it would follow
that we ought to implore mercy from God alone.
And it may sometimes happen that the petition
made to a lesser Saint is more efficacious, either
because we ask him more devoutly, or because
God wishes thus to show forth his sanctity.

5. Lastly, Peter's soul is not Peter. Conse-
quently if the souls of the Saints could pray for us,
we ought — as long as their souls are separated from
their bodies — to appeal, not to Peter to help us,
but to Peter's soul; whereas the Church does the
contrary. From which it would seem that the
Saints, at all events previous to the Resurrection,
do not pray for us.

But since the Saints merited when alive that
they should pray for us, we therefore call upon
them by the names they bore when here below,
and by which they are best known to us ; and
we do this, too, in order to show our faith in
the Resurrection, in accordance with the
words / am the God of Abraham}

T* ^* *^ ^p ^P

* Exod. iii. 6.

Ii8 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Cajetan : The question arises : how could Jere-
mias, who in the days of the Maccabees was not
yet in our Fatherland but still in the Limbo of the
Fathers, pray for Jerusalem ?

But if we carefully consider what it is at root
which makes the prayers of the Saints in the
Fatherland avail for us, we shall find that the same
reason holds for the Saints who were in Limbo as
for those who enjoy the Beatific Vision. For it is
their charity in their state of absolute superiority
to us which is the reason for their praying for us.
Hence, in the reply to the third difficulty, those
who are in Purgatory are excluded from the
number of those who pray for us because they are
not altogether our superiors, but bj^- reason of their
sufferings are inferior to us, and need our prayers.

But the Fathers in Limbo were, it is clear, con-
firmed in charity and were incapable of sin, neither
were they liable to any peculiar or fresh suffering.
For while the pain of loss was common to them and
to the sojourners on earth, the former were free
from all pain of sense, hence they could pray for us.
There is, however, this difference to be noted
between them and the Saints in the Fatherland —
viz., that whereas the former had it in common
with the latter to pray for those sojourning on
earth, it is given only to the Saints in the Fatherland
to see the prayers of us sojourners addressed to
them. Hence Jeremias is here said to pray, he is
not said to have heard their prayers or supplications
{on 2. 2. 83. 11).

Of Prayer 119

XII

Should Prayer be Vocal ?

/ cried to the Lord with my voice, with my voice I
made supplication to the Lord}

Prayer is of two kinds: public and private.
Public or common prayer is that which is offered
to God by the Church's ministers in the person
of the whole body of the faithful. And it is neces-
sary that such prayer should be known to the
body of the faithful for whom it is offered; this,
however, could not be unless it were vocal; conse-
quently it is reasonably enacted that the Church's
ministers should pronounce such prayers in a loud
voice so as to reach the ears of all.

Private prayer, on the contrary, is that which is
offered by private individuals, whether for them-
selves or for others ; and its nature does not demand
that it should be vocal. At the same time, we can
use our voices in this kind of prayer, and this for
three reasons : Firstly, in order to excite interior
devotion whereby our minds may, when we pray,
be lifted up to God; for men's minds are moved by
external signs — whether words or acts — to under-
stand, and, by consequence, also to feel. Where-
fore S. Augustine says to Proba^: " By words and
other signs we vehemently stir ourselves up so as to
increase our holy desires." Hence in private prayer
we must make such use of words and other signs as
shall avail to rouse our minds interiorly. But if,
on the other hand, such things only serve to dis-
tract the mind, or prove in any way a hindrance,
then we must cease from them ; this is especially the

^ Ps. cxli. I. 2 £p cxxx. 9.

120 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

case with those whose minds are sufficiently pre-
pared for devotion without such incentives. Thus
the Psalmist says : My heart hath said to Thee, My
face hath sought Thee^ ; and of Anna we are told
that she spoke within her heart?

And secondly, we make use of vocal prayer in
payment, as it were, of a just debt — in order, that
is, to serve God with the entirety of what we have
received from Him; consequently not with our
mind alone but with our body as well; and this, as
the Prophet Osee says, is especially suitable to
prayer considered as a satisfaction for our sins:
Take away all iniquity and receive the good, and we
will render the calves of our lips.^

And thirdly, we sometimes make use of vocal
prayer because the soul overflows, as it were, on to
the body by reason of the vehemence of our feelings,
as it is written: My heart hath been glad, and my
tongue hath rejoiced^

But it seems to some that prayer should not be
vocal, thus :

1. Prayer is, as we have said, principally directed
to God, and God knows the hearths speech. Conse-
quently to add vocal prayer is idle.

But vocal prayer is not employed in order
to manifest to God something which He did
not know, but to stir up the mind of him who
prays, and of others, too, towards God.

2. Again, man's mind is meant to rise by pra3'-er
towards God; but words, and other things per-

^ Ps. xxvi. 8. 2 I Kings i. 13.

^ Osee xiv. 3. * Ps. xv. 9.

Of Prayer 121

taining to the senses, keep back a man from the
ascent of contemplation.

Words appertaining to other things than
God do indeed distract the mind and hinder
the devotion of him who prays ; but devotional
words stir up the mind, especially if it be less
devout,

3. Lastly, prayer ought to be offered to God in
secret, according to the words : But thou when thou
shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut
the door, pray to thy Father in secret ;^ whereas to
pray vocally means to publish it abroad.

But, as S. Chrysostom says^: " The Lord
forbade us to pray in public with a view to
being seen by the public. Consequently, when
we pray we should do nothing novel to attract
men's attention, whether by uttering cries
which may be heard by them, or by openly
beating our breasts, or by spreading out our
hands, for the crowd to see us." While, on
the other hand, as S. Augustine remarks^:
"To be seen by men is not wrong, but to do
things to be seen by men."

He 9): aN 4: 9|c

Cajetan : Note carefully, ye who murmur at the
Church's services, these three points: the different
kinds of vocal prayer, its necessity, and the con-
ditions attaching to it. For vocal prayer is divided
into that which is in common and that which is
private or individual.

1 S. Mtitt. vi. 6. 2 opus Imperf. Horn. XIII. in Matt.
^ On the Sermon on the Mount, ii. 3.

122 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

The general necessity of vocal prayer arises from
the fact that it is offered in the person of the Church.
For since the Church is composed of created beings
dependent on the senses, prayer made through the
medium of the senses — i.e., vocal prayer — must
needs be offered by its ministers ; else we should not
know whether the worship of prayer was being
offered by God's ministers, nor should we be con-
scious of the gift to God which was being offered
by them in prayer; for the Church only judges
from the things that appear externally.

Our individual need of vocal prayer arises from
the necessity of stirring up our own devotion, and
preserving it.

The conditions of prayer in common are twofold :

it must be vocal, and it must be out loud. Hence

those who say private Masses in such a low tone —

and that consciously — as to be unintelligible to

their hearers, appear to act unreasonably and are

inexcusable, unless it should happen by accident

that no one is present ; in this case it is sufficient if

they can be heard by the server who is close at

hand. This will also show us what use we are

to make of chant, or of recitation without chant,

in prayer in common : it must be governed by our

common devotion. And in whatever fashion such

prayer may be made this rule must always be

observed: it must be said so intelligibly that the

meaning of the words may be distinctly perceived

both by the reciters and by others, that so the

Church's devotion may be aroused.

And reason tells us what conditions attach to our
private prayer: viz., our own private devotion.

Of Prayer 123

This shews, too, the error of those who, in order
to complete the tale of a large number of private
vocal prayers each day, lay aside meditation and
mental prayer. The}^ neglect the end for the
means {on 2. 2. 83. 12).

S. Augustine : Oh ! How I lifted up my voice
to Thee, O Lord, when I sang the Psalms of David,
those songs full of faith, those strains full of piety
which soothed my swelling spirit ! And I was
then but uninstructed in Thy true love; a cate-
chumen spending my leisure with Alypius, another
catechumen. And my mother stayed with us:
clad indeed in woman's garb, but with a man's
faith, with a matron's calm, with a mother's love,
with a Christian's piety. Oh ! How I lifted up
my voice in those Psalms ! How they inflamed
my heart ! How I yearned to recite them, if I
could, to the whole world — as an answer to the
pride of the human race ! Though, indeed, they
are sung throughout the world, and none can hide
himself from Thy heat ! {Confess., IX. iv. 8).

S. Augustine : Sometimes, indeed, through im-
moderate fear of this mistake I err by excessive
severity; nay, sometimes, though it is but rarely,
I could almost wish to shut out from my ears and
even from the Church itself all those sweet-sounding
melodies used in the accompaniment of David's
Psalms. Sometimes it seems to me as though it
would be safer to do as I have often heard that
Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, did, for he
made the reader of the Psalms so modulate his
voice that he came to be rather speaking than
singing. Yet, on the other hand, when I remember

124 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the tears which I shed when I heard the Church's
chant in the early days of my regaining the faith,
and when I notice that even now I am stirred —
not so much by the chant as by the things that are
chanted — when, that is, they are chanted with clear
intonation and suitable modulation, then once more
I recognize the great value of this appointed
fashion {Confess., X. xxxiii. 50).

S. Augustine : I have cried with my whole heart,
hear me, O Lord f^ Who can question but that
when men pray their cry to the Lord is vain if it
be nought but the sound of the corporeal voice
and their heart be not intent upon God ? But if
their prayer come from the heart, then, even though
the voice of the body be silent, it may be hidden
from all men, j'-et not from God. Whether, then,
we pray to God with our voice — at times when such
prayer is necessary — or whether we pray in silence,
it is our heart that must send forth the cry. But
the heart's cry is the earnest application of our
minds. And when this accompanies our prayer
it expresses the deep affections of him who yearns
and asks and so despairs not of his request. And
further, a man cries with his whole heart when he has
no other thought. Such prayers with many are
rare; with few are they frequent; I know not
whether anyone's prayers are always so {Enarr. in
Ps. cxviii., Sermon, xxix. i).

" Incline Thy ear, O Lord, and hear mc; for I
am needy and poor. Preserve my soul, for I am
holy: save Thy servant, O my God, that trusteth
in Thee. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have

^ Ps. cxviii. 145.

Of Prayer 125

cried to Thee all the day. Give joy to the soul of
Thy servant, for to Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up
my soul. For Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild;
and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee."^

XIII

Must Prayer necessarily be Attentive ?

That even holy men sometimes suffer distraction
of mind when at prayer is clear from the words :
My heart hath forsaken me !^

This question particularly concerns vocal prayer.
And for its solution we must know that a thing is
said to be necessary in two senses : firstly, in the
sense that by it a certain end is 7nore readily
attained, and in this sense attention is absolutely
requisite in prayer. But a thing is said to be
necessary also because without it a certain thing
cannot attain its object at all. Now the effect or
object of prayer is threefold. Its first effect — an
effect, indeed, which is common to all acts springing
from charity — is merit ; but to secure this effect it
is not necessarily required that attention should be
kept up throughout the prayer, but the initial inten-
tion with which a man comes to prayer renders the
whole prayer meritorious, as, indeed, is the case in
all other meritorious acts.

The second effect of prayer is peculiar to it, and
that is to obtain favours ; and for this, too, the
primary intention suffices, and to it God principally
looks. But if the primary intention is wanting,
prayer is not meritorious, neither can it win favours ;

1 Ps. Ixxxv. 1-5. 2 Ps. xxxix. 13.

126 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

for, as S. Gregory says, God hears not the prayer of a
man who when he prays does not give heed to God.^

The third effect of prayer is that which it immedi-
ately and actually brings about, namely, the
spiritual refreshment of the soul ; and to attain this
end attention is necessarily required in prayer.
Whence it is said, // / pray in a tongue my under-
standing is without fruit?

At the same time, we must remember that there
is a threefold species of attention which may find
place in our vocal prayer: one by which a man
attends to the words he recites, and is careful to
make no mistake in them; another by which he
attends to the meaning of the words; and a third
by which he attends to the end of all prayer —
namely, God Himself — and to the object for which
he is praying. And this species of attention is the
most necessary of all, and one which even un-
instructed folk can have; sometimes, indeed, the
intensity with which the mind is borne towards God
is, as says Hugo of S. Victor, so overwhelming that
the mind is oblivious of all else.^

Some, however, argue that prayer must of neces-
sity be attentive, thus :

I. It is said in S. John's Gospel"*: God is a spirit,
and they that adore Him must adore Hitn in spirit
and truth. But inattentive prayer is not in spirit.

But he prays in spirit and in truth who
comes to pray moved by the impulse of the

1 Implicitly, Moralia in Job, xxii. 13 ; but see Hugh of
S. Victor, Exposition of the Rule of S. Augustine, iii.

2 I Cor. xiv. 14. ^ Of the Manner of Prayer, ii.
* iv. 24.

Of Prayer 127

Spirit, even though, owing to human in-
firmity, his mind afterwards wanders.

2. But again, prayer is " the ascent of the mind
towards God." But when prayer is inattentive the
mind does not ascend towards God.

But the human mind cannot, owing to
Nature's weakness, long remain on high, for
the soul is dragged down to lower things by the
weight of human infirmity; and hence it
happens that when the mind of one who prays
ascends towards God in contemplation it sud-
denly wanders away from Him owing to his
infirmity.

3. Lastly, prayer must needs be without sin. But
not without sin does a man suffer distraction of
mind when he prays, for he seems to mock God, just
as if one were to speak with his fellow-man and not
attend to what he said. Consequently S. Basil
says^: " The Divine assistance is to be implored,
not remissly, nor with a mind that wanders here and
there ; for such a one not only will not obtain what
he asks, but will rather be mocking God."

Of course, if a man purposely allowed his
mind to wander in prayer, he would commit a
sin and hinder the fruit of his prayer. Against
such S. Augustine says in his Rule^: " When you
pray to God in Psalms and hymns, entertain
your heart with what your lips are reciting."
But that distraction of mind which is uninten-
tional does not destroy the fruit of prayer.
^ On the Monastic Constitutions, chap. i. ^ £p^ cxxi.

128 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Hence S. Basil also says: " But if through the
weakness of sinful nature you cannot pray
with attention, restrain your imagination as
far as you can, and God will pardon you, inas-
much as it is not from negligence but from
weakness that you are unable to occupy your-
self with Him as you should."

Cajetan : Does a man satisfy the precept of the
Church if, being bound to the recitation of the
Divine Office, he sets out with the intention of
meditating upon the Divine Goodness or upon the
Passion of Christ, and thus keeping his mind firmly
fixed upon God ? Clearly a man who strives to
keep his mind occupied during the whole of the
Divine Office with contemplation of and devout
affections towards God and Divine things fully
satisfies his obligation. So, too, a man who aims
at meditation on the Passion of Christ and devout
affections on it during the whole Office, undoubtedly
satisfies his obligation, for he is making use of a
better means for keeping in touch with the Divinity
than if he merely dwelt upon the meaning of the
words. At the same time, he must be ready to lay
this aside if in the course of the Office he finds him-
self uplifted to Divine things, for at this he must
primarily aim. One who so prays, then, must
make the Passion of Christ a means and not an end ;
he must, that is, be prepared to ascend thereby, if
God grants it, to Divine things. In short, we may
make use of any one of the species of attention
enumerated above provided we do not exclude the
higher forms. Thus, for example, if a man feels

Of Prayer 129

that it is more suited to his small capacity to aim
simply at making no mistakes, and habitually makes
use of this form of attention, he must still use it as
a means only; he must, that is, be at God's dis-
position, for God may have mercy upon him and
grant him, by reason of his dispositions, some
better form of attention.

Again, when a person prays for things needful for
his support in life he must not be so occupied with
the thought of these things as to appear to sub-
ordinate Divine things to human, as though prayer
was but a means and his daily living the end. We
must bear in mind the doctrine laid down above^ —
viz., that all our prayers should tend to the attain-
ment of grace and glory. We must occupy ourselves
with the thought of eternal glory, or of the glory
of the adoption of sons during this life, or with the
virtues as means to arriving at our eternal home,
and as the adornment of the inhabitants of heaven,
and the commencement here of heavenly " con-
versation"; such things as these must be counted
as the highest forms of attention {on 2. 2. 83. 13).

S. Augustine : Give joy to the soul of Thy servant,
for to Thee, G Lord, I have lifted up my soul. For
Thou, O Lord, art sweet and niild.^ It seems to me
that he calls God " mild " because He endures all
our vagaries, and only awaits our prayers that He
may perfect us. And when we offer Him our
prayers He accepts them gratefully and hears them.
Neither does He reflect on the careless way in which
we pour them out. He even accepts prayers of
which we are hardly conscious ! For, Brethren,
» Art. IV. 2 ps. ixxv. 4, 5.

9

130 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

what man is there who would put up with it if a
friend of his began a conversation with him, and
yet, just when he was ready to reply to what his
friend said, should discover that he was paying no
attention to him but was saying something to
someone else ? Or supposing you were to appeal to
a judge and were to appoint a place for him to hear
your appeal, and then suddenly, while you were
talking with him, were to put him aside and begin
to gossip with a friend ! How long would he put
up with you ? And yet God puts up with the
hearts of so many who pray to Him and who yet
are thinking of other things, even evil things, even
wicked things, things hateful to God; for even to
think of unnecessary things is an insult to Him with
Whom you have begun to talk. For your prayer
is a conversation with God. When you read, God
speaks to you; when you pray, you speak to God.
. . . And you may picture God saying to you :
" You forget how often you have stood before Me
and have thought of such idle and superfluous things
and have so rarely poured out to Me an attentive
and definite prayer !" But Thou,0 Lord, art sweet
and mild ! Thou art sweet, bearing with me ! It
is from weakness that I slip away ! Heal me and
I shall stand; strengthen me and I shall be firml
But until Thou dost so, bear with me, for Thou, O
Lord, art sweet and mild {Enarr. in Ps. Ixxxv. 7).

S. Augustine : Praise the Lord, 0 my soul ! -^ What
mean these words. Brethren ? Do we not praise the
Lord ? Do we not sing hymns day by day ? Do
not our mouths, each according to their measure,

* Ps. cxlv. I.

Of Prayer 131

sound forth day by day the praises of God ? And
what is it we praise ? It is a great Thing that we
praise, but that wherewith we praise is weak as
yet. When does the singer fill up the praises of
Him Whom he sings ? A man stands and sings
before God, often for a long space; but oftentimes,
whilst his lips move to frame the words of his song,
his thoughts fly away to I know not what desires !
And so, too, our mind has sometimes been fixed
on praising God in a definite manner, but our soul
has flitted away, led hither and thither by divers
desires and anxious cares. And then our mind, as
though from up above, has looked down upon the
soul as it flitted to and fro, and has seemed to turn
to it and address its uneasy wanderings — saying
to it: Praise the Lord, 0 my soul! Why art thou
anxious about other things than Him ? Why busy
thyself with the mortal things of earth ? And then
our soul, as though weighed down and unable to
stand firm as it should, replies to our mind: / will
praise the Lord in my life I Why does it say in
my life ? Why ? Because now I am in my
death !

Rouse yourself, then, and say: Praise the Lord,
O my soul! And your soul will reply to you: " I
praise Him as much as I can, though it is but
weakly, in small measure, and with little strength."
But why so ? Because while we are in the body we
are absent from the Lord} And why do you thus
praise the Lord so imperfectly and with so little
fixity of attention ? Ask Holy Scripture : The cor-
ruptible body weigheth down the soul, and the earthly

* 2 Cor, V. 6.

132 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

habitation pressetk down the mind that museth upon
many things} O take away, then, my body which
weigheth down the soul, and then will I praise the
Lord 1 Take away my earthly habitation which
presseth down the mind that museth upon many
things, so that, instead of many things I may be
occupied with One Thing alone, and may praise the
Lord I But as long as I am as I am, I cannot, for
I am weighed down I What then ? Wilt thou be
silent ? Wilt thou never perfectly praise the Lord ? /
will praise the Lord in my life ! (Enarr in Ps. cxlv. i ).

"My spirit is in anguish within me ; my heart within
me is troubled. I remembered the days of old, I
meditated on all Thy works; I meditated upon the
works of Thy hands. I stretched forth my hands
to Thee; my soul is as earth without water unto
Thee. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit hath
fainted away." "

S. Thomas : The fruits of prayer are twofold.
For first there is the merit which thereby accrues
to a man; and, secondly, there is the spiritual con-
solation and devotion which is begotten of prayer.
And he who does not attend to, or does not under-
stand his prayer, loses that fruit which is spiritual
consolation; but we cannot say that he loses that
fruit which is merit, for then we should have to say
that very many prayers were without merit since a
man can hardly say the Lord's Prayer without some
distraction of mind. Hence we must rather say that
when a person is praying and is sometimes dis-
tracted from what he is saying, or — more generally
— when a person is occupied with some meritorious

^ Wisd. ix. 15. 2 Ps. cxlii. 4-7.

Of Prayer I33

work and does not continuously and at every
moment reflect that he is doing it for God, his work
does not cease to be meritorious. And the reason
is that in meritorious acts directed to a right end
it is not requisite that our intention should be
referred to that end at every moment, but the
influence of the intention with which we begun
persists throughout even though we now and again
be distracted in some particular point; and the
influence of this initial intention renders the whole
body of what we do meritorious unless it be broken
off by reason of some contrary affection intruding
itself and diverting us from the end we had first
in view to some other end contrary to it.

And it must be remembered that there are three
kinds of attention. The first is attention to the
words we are actually saying; and sometimes this
is harmful, for it may hinder devotion. The second
is attention to the meaning of the words, and this,
too, may be harmful, though not gravely so. The
third is attention to the goal of our prayer, and
this better and almost necessary {Commentary on
I Cor, xiv. 14).

XIV
Should our Prayers be Long ?

It would seem that we ought to pray continuously,
for our Lord said : We ought always to pray and
not to faint ^ ; so also S. Paul : Pray without ceasing.^

But we must noticethat when we speak of prayer
we can mean either prayer considered in itself or
the cause of prayer. Now the cause of prayer is
^ S. Luke xviii. i. 2 j Thess. v. 17.

134 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the desire of the love of God ; and all prayer ought
to spring from this desire which is, indeed, con-
tinuous in us, whether actually or virtually, since
this desire virtually remains in everything which
we do from charity. But we ought to do all things
for the glory of God : whether you eat or whether you
drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory
of God} In this sense, then, prayer ought to be
continual. Hence S. Augustine says to Proba:
" Therefore by our faith, by our hope, and by our
charity, we are always praying, for our desire is
continued."

But prayer considered in itself cannot be so con-
tinuous ; for we must needs be occupied with other
things. Hence S. Augustine says in the same
place: " At certain intervals, at divers hours and
times, we pray to God in words so that by these
outward signs of things we may admonish our-
selves, and may learn what progress we have made
in this same desire, and may stir ourselves up to
increase it."

But the quantity of a thing has to be determined
by its purpose, just as a draught has to be pro-
portioned to the health of the man who takes it.
Consequently it is fitting that prayer should only
last so long as it avails to stir up in us this fervour
of interior desire. And when it exceeds this
measure, and its prolongation only results in weari-
ness, it must not be prolonged further. Hence
S. Augustine also says to p4^: " The Brethren in
Egypt are said to have had ^quent prayers ; but
they were exceedingly brief, hardly more than eager

^ I Cor. X. 31.

Of Prayer I35

ejaculations; and they adopted this method lest,
if they prolonged their prayer, that vigilant atten-
tion which is requisite for prayer should lose its
keen edge and become dulled. And thus they
clearly show that this same attention, just as it is
not to be forced if it fails to last, so neither is it to
be quickly broken off if it does last."

And just as we have to pay attention to this in
our private prayers, and have to be guided by our
powers of attention, so must we observe the same
principles in public prayer where we have to be
governed by the people's devotion.

Some, however, argue that our prayers ought
not to be continual, thus:

I. Our Lord said^: And when you are praying
speak not much. But it is not easy to see how a
man can pray long without "speaking much";
more especially if it is a question of vocal prayer.

But S. Augustine says to Proba: *' To pro-
long our prayer does not involve ' much-
speaking.' ' Much - speaking * is one thing;
the unceasing desire of the heart is another.
Indeed we are told of the Lord Himself that
He passed the whole night in the prayer of God^ ;
and, again, that being in an agony He prayed
the longer,^ and this that He might afford us
an example." And Augustine adds a little
later: " Much speaking in prayer is to be
avoided, but^fcj^ much petition, if fervent
attention la^^ For ' much - speaking ' in
prayer means the use of superfluous words

^ S. Matt. vi. 7. 2 s. Luke vi. 12. ^ S. Luke xxii. 43.

136 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

when we pray for something necessary; but
much petition means that with unceasing and
devout stirrings of the heart we knock at His
door to Whom we pray; and this is often a
matter rather of groans than of words, of
weeping than of speaking."

2. Further, prayer is but the unfolding of our
desires. But our desires are holy in proportion
as they are confined to one thing, in accordance
with those words of the Psalmist^ : One thing I have
asked of the Lord, this will I seek after. Whence it
would seem to follow that our prayers are accept-
able to God just in proportion to their brevity.

But to prolong our prayer does not mean
that we ask for many things, but that our
hearts are continuously set upon one object
for which we yearn .

3. Once more, it is unlawful for a man to trans-
gress the Hmits which God Himself has fixed,
especially in matters which touch the Divine
worship, according to the words: Charge the people
lest they should have a mind to pass the limits to see
the Lord, and a very great multitude of them should
perish? But God Himself has assigned limits to
our prayer by instituting the Lord's Prayer, as is
evident from the words: Thus shall thou pray?
Hence we ought not to extend our prayer beyond

these hmits.

•

But our Lord did not institute this prayer
with a view to tying us down exclusively to
* Ps. xxvi. 4. 3 Exod. xix. 21. ^ g. Matt. vi. 9.

Of Prayer I37

these words when we pray, but to show us
that the scope of our prayer should be Hmited
to asking only for the things contained in it,
whatever form of words we may use or what-
ever may be our thoughts.

4. And lastly, with regard to the words of our
Lord that we ought always to pray and not to faint, ^
and those of S. Paul, Pray without ceasing,^ we
must remark that a man prays without ceasing,
either because of the unceasing nature of his desire,
as we have above explained ; or because he does not
fail to pray at the appointed times ; or because of
the effect which his prayer has, whether upon him-
self— since even when he has finished praying he
still remains devout — , or upon others, as, for in-
stance, when a man by some kind action induces
another to pray for him whereas he himself desists
from his prayer.

" Our soul waiteth for the Lord ; for He is our helper
and protector. For in Him our hearts shall rejoice ;
and in His Holy Name we have trusted. Let Thy
mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in
Thee." ^

XV

Is Prayer Meritorious ?

On the words of the Psalmist, My prayer shall be
turned into my bosom,'^ the interlinear Gloss has :
" And if it is of no profit to them (for whom it is
offered), at least I myself shall not lose my reward."

^ S. Luke xviii. i. ^ i Thess. v. 17.

^ Ps. xxxii. 20-22. * Ps. xxxiv. 13.

138 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

A reward, however, can only be due to merit. |
Prayer, then, is meritorious. '

As we have said above, prayer has, besides the
effect of spiritual consolation which it brings with
it, a twofold power regarding the future : the power,
namely, of meriting, and that of winning favours.
But prayer, as indeed every other virtuous act,
derives its power of meriting from that root which
is charity, and the true and proper object of charity
is that Eternal Good, the enjoyment of Which we
merit. Now prayer proceeds from charity by
means of the virtue of religion whose proper act
is prayer; there accompany it, however, certain
other virtues which are requisite for a good prayer —
namely, faith and humility. For it belongs to the
virtue of religion to offer our prayers to God ; while
to charity belongs the desire of that the attainment
of which we seek in prayer. And faith is necessary
as regards God to Whom we pray; for we must, of
course, believe that from Him we can obtain what
we ask. Humility, too, is called for on the part
of the petitioner, for he must acknowledge his own
needs. And devotion also is necessary; though
this comes under religion of which it is the first act,
it conditions all subsequent effects.

And its power of obtaining favours prayer owes
to the grace of God to Whom we pray, and Who,
indeed, induces us to pray. Hence S. Augustine
says^: " He would not urge us to ask unless He
were ready to give"; and S. Chrysostom says:
" He never refuses His mercies to them who pray,

^ On the Sermon on the Mount, Sermon CV. i.

Of Prayer I39

since it is He Who in His loving-kindness stirs them
up so that they weary not in prayer."

But some say that prayer cannot be meritorious,
thus:

1 . Merit proceeds from grace, but prayer precedes
grace, since it is precisely by prayer that we win
grace : Your Father from Heaven will give the Good
Spirit to them that ask Him}

But prayer, like any other virtuous act, can-
not be meritorious without that grace which
makes us pleasing to God. Yet even that
prayer which wins for us the grace which ren-
ders us pleasing to God must proceed from some
grace — that is, from some gratuitous gift ; for,
as S. Augustine says, to pray at all is a gift of
' God .2

2. Again, prayer cannot be meritorious, for if it
were so it would seem natural that prayer should
especially merit that for which we actually pray.
Yet this is not always the case, for even the prayers
of the Saints are often not heard; S. Paul, for
example, was not heard when he prayed that the
sting of the flesh might be taken away from him.^

But we must notice that the merit of our
prayers sometimes lies in something quite
different from what we beg for. For whereas
merit is to be especially referred to the pos-
session of God, our petitions in our prayers
at times refer directly to other things, as we

* St. Luke vi. 13. ^ On Perseverance, chap, xxiii.

3 2 Cor. xii. 7-9.

140 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

have pointed out above. Consequently, if what
a man asks for will not tend to his ultimate
attainment of God, he does not merit it by his
prayer ; sometimes, indeed, by asking and desir-
ing such a thing he may lose all merit, as, for
example, if a man were to ask of God some-
thing which was sinful and which he could not
reverently ask for. Sometimes, however, what
he asks for is not necessary for his salvation,
nor yet is it clearly opposed to his salvation;
and when a man so prays he may by his
prayer merit eternal life, but he does not merit
to obtain what he actually asks for. Hence
S. Augustine says^: " He who asks of God in
faith things needful for this life is sometimes
mercifully heard and sometimes mercifully not
heard. For the physician knows better than
the patient what will avail for the sick man."
It was for this reason that Paul was not heard
when he asked that the sting of the flesh might
be taken away — it was not expedient. But if
what a man asks for will help him to the attain-
ment of God, as being something conducive to
his salvation, he will merit it, and that not
only by praying for it but also by doing other
good works; hence, too, he undoubtedly will
obtain what he asks for, but when it is fitting
that he should obtain it: " for some things
are not refused to us but are deferred, to be
given at a fitting time," as S. Augustine says.^

* S. Prosper, The Book oj Sentences gleaned Jrom S, A ugus-
iine, Sent. 212.

'^ Traciaius in Joannem, 102.

Of Prayer 141

Yet even here hindrance may arise if a man
does not persevere in asking; hence S. Basil
says^ : " When then you ask and do not receive,
this is either because you asked for what you
ought not, or because you asked without
lively faith, or carelessly, or for what would
not profit you, or because you ceased to ask."
And since a man cannot, absolutely speaking,
merit eternal life for another, nor, in conse-
quence, those things which belong to eternal
life, it follows that a man is not always heard
when he prays for another. For a man, then,
always to obtain what he asks, four conditions
must concur: he must ask for himself, for
things necessary for salvation ; he must ask
piously and perseveringly.

3. Lastly, prayer essentially reposes upon faith,
as S. James says: But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering? But faith is not suJBftcient for merit,
as is evident in the case of those who have faith
without charity. Therefore prayer is not meri-
torious.

But while it is true that prayer rests princi-
pally upon faith, this is not for its power of
meriting — for as regards this it rests princi-
pally on charity — but for its power of winning
favours; for through faith man knows of the
Divine Omnipotence and Mercy whence prayer
obtains what it asks.

» * * * ♦

* Monastic Constitutions , chap, i . * i. 6.

142 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

S. Augustine : Men, then, love different things,
and when each one seemeth to have what he loves,
he is called happy. But a man is truly happy,
not if he has what he loves, but if he loves what
ought to be loved. For many become more
wretched through having what they love than
they were when they lacked it. Miserable enough
through loving harmful things, more miserable
through having them. And our Merciful God,
when we love amiss, denies us what we love; but
sometimes in His anger He grants a man what
he loves amiss ! . . . But when we love what
God wishes us to love, then, doubtless, He will
give it us. This is That One Thing Which ought
to be loved: that we may dwell in the House
of the Lord all the days of our Hfe ! {Enarr. in
Ps. xxvi.).

S. Augustine : In those tribulations, then, which
can both profit us and harm us, we know not what
we should pray for as we ought. Yet none the less
since they are hard, since they are vexatious,
since, too, they are opposed to our sense of our own
weakness, mankind with one consent prays that they
may be removed from us. But we owe this much
devotion to the Lord our God that, if He refuses
to remove them, we should not therefore fancy that
we are neglected by Him, but, while bearing these
woes with devout patience, we should hope for
some greater good, for thus is power perfected in
infirmity. Yet to some in their impatience the
Lord God grants in anger what they ask, just as
in His mercy He refused it to the Apostle {Ep.
cxxx. ad Probam).

Of Prayer 143

" Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication ;
give ear to my tears. Be not silent: for I am a
stranger with Thee, and a sojourner as all my fathers
were. O forgive me, that I may be refreshed; before
I go hence, and be no more." ^

XVI

Do Sinners gain Anything from God by their

Prayers ?

S. Augustine says^ : " If God did not hear sinners,
in vain would the pubhcan have said, God be
merciful to me a sinner " ; and S. Chrysostom says^ :
" Every one that asketh receiveth — that is, whether
he be just man or sinner." Hence the prayers of
sinners do win something from God.

In a sinner we have to consider two things : his
nature, which God loves; his fault, which God
hates. If, then, a sinner asks something of God
formally as a sinner — that is, according to his
sinful desires — God, out of His mercy, does not
hear him, though sometimes He does hear him in
His vengeance, as when He permits a sinner to
fall still farther into sin. For God " in mercy
refuses some things which in anger He concedes,"
as S. Augustine says."* But that prayer of a
sinner which proceeds from the good desire of his
nature God hears, not, indeed, as bound in justice
to do so, for that the sinner cannot merit, but out of
His pure mercy, and on condition, too, that the four

* Ps. xxxviii. 13, 14. 2 Tractatus in Joannem, 44.
3 Opus Imperf. in Matt., Horn. XVIII.

* Tractams in Joannem, 73 ; and De Verbis Domini,
Sermon cccliv. 7.

144 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

above-mentioned conditions are observed — namely,
that he prays for himself, for things needful for his
salvation, that he prays devoutly and perseveringly.

Some, however, maintain that sinners do not by
their prayers win anything from God, thus :

1 . It is said in the Gospel,^ Now we know that
God doth not hear sinners ; and this accords with
those words of Proverbs ^ ; He that turneth away his
ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an
abomination. But a prayer which is " an abomina-
tion " cannot win anything from God.

But, as S. Augustine remarks,^ the words
first quoted are due to the blind man as yet
unanointed — viz., not yet perfectly illumined
— and hence they are not vahd; though they
might be true if understood of a sinner pre-
cisely as such, and in this sense, too, his
prayer is said to be " an abomination."

2. Again, just men obtain from God what they
merit, as we have said above. Sinners, however,
can merit nothing, since they are without grace,
and even without charity which, according to the
Gloss'* on the words. Having an appearance of
piety, but denying the power thereof, is " the power
of piety." And hence they cannot pray piously,
which, as we have said above, is requisite if prayer
is to gain what it asks for.

But though a sinner cannot pray piously in
the sense that his prayer springs from the

^ S. John ix. 31. 2 xxviii. 8.

' Tractatiis in Joannem, 44.

* Implicitly in the old interlinear Gloss on 2 Tim. iii. 5.

Of Prayer 145

habit of virtue, yet his prayer can be pious
in the sense that he asks for something con-
ducive to piety, just as a man who has not
got the habit of justice can yet wish for some
just thing, as we have pointed out above.
And though such a man's prayer is not meri-
torious, it may yet have the power of winning
favours; for while merit reposes upon justice,
the power of winning favours reposes upon
grace.

3. Lastly, S. Chrysostom says^: "The Father
does not readily hear prayers not dictated by the
Son." But in the prayer which Christ dictated
it is said : Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our
debtors, which sinners do not. Hence sinners either
lie when they say this prayer, and so do not deserve
to be heard, or, if they do not say it, then they are
not heard because they do not make use of the
form of prayer instituted by Christ.

But, as we have explained above, the Lord's
Prayer is spoken in the name of the whole
Church. Consequently, if a man — while un-
willing to forgive his neighbour his debts —
yet says this prayer, he does not lie ; for while
what he says is not true as regards himself, it
yet remains true as regards the Person of the
Church outside of which he deservedly is, and
he loses, in consequence, the fruit of his prayer.
Sometimes, however, sinners are ready to for-
give their debtors, and consequently their
prayers are heard, in accordance with those

^ Opus Imperf. in Matt., Horn. XIV.

10

146 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

words of Ecclesiasticus^ : Forgive thy neigh-
bour if he hath hurt thee, and then shall thy
sins be forgiven to thee when thou pray est,

" With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed,
and he shall like well his way. When he shall fall,
he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth His hand
under him. I have been young, and now am old;
and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed
seeking bread." ^

XVII

Can We rightly term " Supplications,"
" Prayers," " Intercessions," and "Thanks-
givings," PARTS OF Prayer ?

The Apostle says to Timothy^: / desire therefore
first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and thanksgivings be made by all men .

For prayer three things are required : first of all,
that he who prays come nigh to God; and this is
signified by the name prayer, for prayer is " the
uplifting of the mind towards God." Secondly,
petition is required, and is signified by the word
postulation; now a petition may be set forth in
definite terms — and this some term postulation,
properly so called; or it may be set forth in no
express terms, as when a man asks for God's help,
and this some call supplication ; or, again, the fact
in question may be simply narrated, as in S. John'* :
He whom Thou lovest is sick, and this some call
insinuation. And thirdly, there is required a
reason for asking for what we pray for, and this

^ xxviii. 2. ^ Ps. xxxvi. 23-25.

3 I Tim. ii. i. ^* xi. 3.

Of Prayer 147

reason may be either on the part of God or on the
part of the petitioner. The reason for asking on
the part of God is His hohness, by reason of which
we ask to be heard : Incline Thine ear and hear . . .
for Thine own sake, O my God^; to this belongs
obsecration — namely, an appeal to sacred things,
as when we say: By Thy Nativity, deliver us, 0
Lord! But the reason for asking on the part of
the petitioner is thankfulness, for by giving thanks
for benefits already received we merit to receive
still greater ones, as is set forth in the Church's
Collect? Hence the Gloss ^ says that in the Mass
" Obsecrations are the prayers which precede the
Consecration," for in them we commemorate certain
sacred things; " in the Consecration itself we have
prayers,'^ for then the mind is especially uplifted
towards God; " but in the subsequent petitions we
have postulations , and at the close thanksgivings."
These four parts of prayer may be noticed in many
of the Church's Collects : thus in the Collect for
Trinity Sunday, -the words Almighty and Ever-
lasting God signify the uplifting of the soul in
prayer to God ; the words : Who hast granted to
Thy servants to acknowledge in their profession of
the true faith the glory of the Eternal Trinity, and
in the Power of Its Majesty to adore Its Unity,
signify giving of thanks ; the words : Grant, we
beseech Thee, that by perseverance in this same faith
we may be ever defended from all adversities , signify

^ Dan. ix. i8, 19.

2 Friday in the September Ember days.

3 The Ordinary Gloss on the words obsecrations, prayers,
etc., in I Tim. ii. i.

148 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

postulation ; while the closing words : Through our
Lord Jesus Christ, etc., signify obsecration.

In the Conferences of the Fathers, however,^ we
read: ^^Obsecration is imploring pardon for sin;
prayer is when we make vows to God ; postulation
is when we make petition for others; giving of
thanks, those ineffable outpourings by which the
mind renders thanks to God." But the former
explanation is preferable.

Some, however, object to these divisions of
prayer, thus:

1 . Obsecration is apparently to swear by sotneone,
whereas Origen remarks^: " A man who desires to
live in accordance with the Gospel must not swear
by anyone, for if it is not allowed to swear, neither
is it allowed to swear by anyone."

But it is sufficient to remark that obse-
cration is not a swearing by, or adjuring of
God, as though to compel Him, for this is
forbidden, but to implore His mercy.

2. Again, S. John Damascene says^ that prayer
is " the asking God for things that are fitting."
Hence it is not exact to distinguish prayers from
postulations .

But prayer, generally considered, embraces
all the above-mentioned parts; when, however,
we distinguish one part against another,
prayer, properly speaking, means the uplifting
of the mind to God.

* Collat., IX., chaps, xi-xiii. ^ Tractatus xxxv. in Matt.
3 De Orthodoxa Fide, iii. 24.

Of Prayer 149

3. Lastly, giving of thanks refers to the past,
whereas the other parts of prayer refer to the
future. Hence giving of thanks should not be
placed after the rest.

But whereas in things which are different
from one another the past precedes the future,
in one and the same thing the future precedes
the past. Hence giving of thanks for benefits
already received precedes petition; yet those
same benefits were first asked for, and then,
w^hen they had been received, thanks were
offered for them. Prayer, however, precedes
petition, for by it we draw nigh to God to
Whom we make petition. And obsecration
precedes prayer, for it is from dwelling upon
the Divine Goodness that we venture to
approach to Him.

Cajetan : We might be asked how the mind can
be especially elevated to God at the moment of
consecration. For in the consecration the priest
has to express distinctly the words of consecration,
and consequently cannot have his mind uplifted
towards God at that moment. Indeed, the more
his mind is uplifted to God, the less he thinks of
inferior things, words, and so forth.

But in the consecration of the Holy Eucharist —
in which the priest in a sense brings God down
upon earth — the very greatness of our uplifting of
mind towards the Divine Goodness Which has thus
deigned to come amongst us is the very reason for

150 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

our attention to the words in the act of consecra-
tion, and makes the priest pronounce them dis-
tinctly and reverently. Some scrupulous folk,
however, concentrate their whole attention on being
intent and attentive ; but this is really a distraction,
and not attention, for its object is precisely the
being attentive. The uplifting, then, of our minds
to God in the consecration has indeed to be the very
greatest, not, indeed, intensively and by abstrac-
tion from the things of sense, but objectively and
concentrated — though always within the limits
compatible with attention — on the endeavour to
say the words as they should be said (on 2.2.83.17)

S. Augustine : And David went in and sat before
the Lord^ ; and Elias, casting himself down upon
the earth, put his face between his knees? By
examples such as these we are taught that there is
no prescribed position of the body in prayer pro-
vided the soul states its intention in the presence
of God. For we pray standing, as it is written:
The Publican standing afar off. We pray, too, on
our knees, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles^;
and we pray sitting, as in the case of David and
Elias. And unless it were lawful to pray lying
down, it would not be said in the Psalms'*: Every
night I will wash my bed, I will water my couch
with my tears. When, then, a man desires to pray,
he settles himself in^any position that serves at
the time for the stirring up of his soul. When,

* 2 Kings vii. i8. 2 ^ Kings xviii. 42.

3 vii. 59 ; XX. 36. * vi. 7-

Of Prayer 151

on the other hand, we have no definite intention of
praying, but the wish to pray suddenly occurs to
us — when, that is, there comes of a sudden into
our mind something which rouses the desire to
pray " with unspeakable groanings " — then, in
whatsoever position such a feeling may find us,
we are not to put off our prayer; we are not to
look about for some place whither we can withdraw,
for some place in which to stand or in which to
make prostration. For the very intention of the
mind begets a solitude, and we often forget to which
quarter of the heavens we were looking, or in what
bodily position the occasion found us {Of Divers
Questions, iv.).

" Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my sup-
plication; be attentive to me and hear me. I am
grieved in my exercise ; and am troubled at the voice
of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner.
For they have cast iniquities upon me, and in wrath
they were troublesome to me. My heart is troubled
within me, and the fear of death is fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling are come upon me, and darkness
hath covered me. And I said : Who will give me wings
like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest ?" ^

^ Ps. liv. 1-7.

FROM THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE
SUMM A— QUESTION LXXII

OF THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS WHO ARE IN

HEAVEN

pac;e

I. Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers ? - - 152

II. Ought we to appeal to the Saints to intercede for us ? 157

III. Are the Saints' Prayers to God for us always heard ? 162

I

Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers ?

On those words of Job/ Whether his children come
to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand,
S. Gregory says: " This is not to be understood
of the souls of the Saints, for they see from within
the glory of Almighty God, it is in nowise credible
that there should be anything without of which
they are ignorant." ^

And he says also: " To the soul that sees its
Creator all created things are but trifling ; for, how-
ever little of the Creator's light he sees, all that is
created becomes of small import to him."^ Yet the
greatest difficulty in saying that the souls of the
Saints know our prayers and other things which
concern us, is their distance from us. But since,
according to the authority just quoted, this dis-
tance does not preclude such knowledge, it appears

* xiv. 21. ^ M or alia in Job, xii. 14.

3 Dialogue, li. 35.

152

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven I53

that the souls of the Saints do know our prayers
and other things which concern us.

Further, if they did not know what concerned
us, neither would they pray for us, since they would
not know our deficiencies. But this was the error of
Vigilantius, as S. Jerome says in his Epistle against
him.^ The Saints, then, know what concerns us.

The Divine Essence, then, is a sufficient medium
for knowing all things, as, indeed, is evident from
the fact that God in seeing His own essence sees
all things. Yet it does not follow that whoever
sees the Essence of God therefore sees all things,
but those only who comprehend the Essence of God ;
just in the same way as it does not follow that
because we know a principle we therefore know all
that that principle contains, for that would only be
the case if we comprehended the whole power of
the principle. Since, then, the souls of the Saints
do not comprehend the Divine Essence, it does not
follow that they know everything which could be
known through the medium of that Divine Essence.
Hence the inferior Angels are taught certain things
by the higher Angels, though all see the Divine
Essence. But each person in possession of the
Beatific Vision only sees in the Divine Essence as
much of other things as is necessitated by the
degree of perfection of his beatitude; and for the
perfection of beatitude it is required that a man
" should have whatever he wants, and should
desire nothing in an inordinate fashion."^ Each

1 Contra Vigilant., vi.

2 S. Augustine : Of the Trinity, xiii. 5.

154 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

one, however, rightly desires to know those things
which concern himself. Hence, since no rectitude
is lacking to the Saints, they wish to know those
things which concern themselves, and consequently
they must know them in the Word. But it belongs
to their glory that they should be able to help on
the salvation of those who need it, for it is thus
that they are made co-workers with God — " than
which there is nought more Divine," as Denis
says.^ It is clear, then, that the Saints have a
knowledge of those things which are requisite for
this end. And so, too, it is manifest that they
know in the Word the desires, the devout acts and
the prayers, of men who fly to them for help.

Some, however, maintain that the Saints do not
know our prayers, thus:

I . On the words of Isaias,^ Thou art our Father,
and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath
been ignorant of us, the Interlinear Gloss has:
" For the Saints who are dead know not what the
living do, even their own children." This is taken
from S. Augustine's treatise On Care for the Dead,
xiii., where he quotes these words, and adds: " If
these great Patriarchs were ignorant of what con-
cerned those whom they had begotten, how can the
dead be concerned with knowing and assisting the
affairs and the deeds of the Uving ?" Hence it would
seem that the Saints are not cognizant of our prayers.

But these words of S. Augustine are to be
understood of the natural knowledge of the

^ Of the Heavenly Hierarchy, iii. ^ Ixiii. i6.

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven i55

souls separated (from this world); and this
knowledge is not obscured in holy men as it
is in sinners. Moreover, S. Augustine is not
talking of that knowledge which is in the
Word, a knowledge which it is clear that
Abraham had not at the time that Isaias said
these things; for anterior to Christ's Passion
no one had attained to the Vision of God.

2. In 4 Kings xxii. 20, it is said to Josias the
king: Therefore — because, that is, thou didst weep
before Me — / will gather thee to thy fathers . . . that
thy eyes tnay not see all the evils which I will bring
upon this place. But the death of Josias would
have been no relief to him if he was to know after
death what was going to happen to his nation.
The Saints, then, who are dead, do not know
our acts, and consequently cannot understand our
prayers.

But although after this life the Saints know
the things which are done here below, we are
not therefore to suppose that they are filled
with grief at the knowledge of the afflictions
of those whom they loved in the world. For
they are so filled with the joy of their beatitude
that sorrow finds no place in them. Hence, if
they know after death the evil plight of those
dear to them, it is none the less a rehef to their
sorrow if they are withdrawn from this world
before those woes come on.

At the same time it is possible that souls
not yet in glory would feel a certain grief if
they were made aware of the sorrows of those

156 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

dear to them. And since the soul of Josias
was not immediately glorified on its quitting
the body, S. Augustine endeavours to argue
that the souls of the dead have no knowledge
of the deeds of the living.^

3. Again, the more a person is perfected in
charity the more ready he is to succour his neigh-
bour in peril. But the Saints while still in the
flesh had a care for their neighbours, and especially
for their relatives, when in peril. Since, then, they
are after death far more perfected in charity, if
they were cognizant of our deeds, they would have
now a much greater care for those dear to them
or related to them, and would help them much
more in their necessities; but this does not seem
to be the case. Whence it would seem that they
are not cognizant of our actions nor of our prayers.

But the souls of the Saints have their will
perfectly conformed to the Will of God, even
in what they would will. Consequently, while
retaining their feelings of charity towards their
neighbour, they afford them no other assist-
ance than that which they see is arranged for
them in accordance with Divine Justice. Yet
at the same time we must believe that they
help their neighbours very much indeed by
interceding for them with God.

4. Further, just as the Saints after death see the
Word, so also do the Angels, for of them it is said :
Their Angels in Heaven always see the face of My

* De Cura Mortuomm, 13, 14, 15.

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven 157

Father Who is in Heaven} But the Angels, though
seeing the Word, do not therefore know all things,
for the inferior Angels are purified of their ignor-
ance by the superior Angels, as is evident from
Denis .^ Consequently, neither do the Saints, al-
though they see the Word, know in It our prayers
and other things which concern us.

But although it is not necessary that those
who see the Word should see all things in the
Word, they none the less see those things which
belong to the perfection of their beatitude, as
we have said above.

5. Lastly, God alone is the Searcher of hearts.
But prayer is essentially an affair of the heart.
Consequently God alone knows our prayers.

But God alone knows of Himself the thoughts
of the heart; others know them according as
they are revealed to them either in their vision
of the Word or in any other way.

II

Ought we to appeal to the Saints to intercede

FOR us ?

In the Book of Job,^ it is said: Call now, if
there he any that will answer thee ; and turn to some
of the Saints. And on this S. Gregory says: "It
is our business to call, and to beseech God in humble

^ S. Matt, xviii. lo.

2 Of the Heavenly Hierarchy, vii. ; and Of the Ecclesiastical
Hierarchy, vi. ^ v. i.

158 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

prayer."^ When, then, we desire to pray to God, we
ought to turn to the Saints that they may pray for us.

Further, the Saints who are in the Fatherland
are more acceptable in the sight of God than they
were when upon earth. But we ought to ask the
Saints even when on earth to be our intercessors
with God, as the Apostle shows us by his example
when he says: / beseech you, therefore, brethren,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity
of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers
for me to God? Much more, then, should we ask
the Saints who are in our Fatherland to help us
by their prayers to God.

Moreover, the common custom of the Church
confirms this, since in her Litanies she asks the
prayers of the Saints.

In the words of Denis ,^ " there is this Divinely
established harmony in things — that they which
hold the lowest place should be brought to God
through them that come between them and God."
Since, then, the Saints who are in our Fatherland
are most nigh to God, the harmony of the Divine
Government demands that we who, abiding in the
body, are " absent from the Lord," should be led
to Him by the Saints who stand midway ; and this
is secured when through their means the Divine
Goodness pours out Its effects upon us. And since
our return to God ought to correspond to the
orderly way in which His goodnesses flow upon us
— for His benefits flow out upon us through the

1 Moralia in Job, v. 30. 2 Rom. xv. 30.

^ OJ the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, v.

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven 159

intervention of the Saints' suffrages for us — so
also ought we to be brought back to God through
the intervention of the Saints, and thus once more
receive His benefits. Whence it is that we make
them our intercessors for us with God — and, as it
were, mediators — by begging them to pray for us.

But some say that we should not ask the Saints
to pray for us, thus :

I. No one asks a man's friends to intercede for
him except in so far as he thinks that he can ob-
tain a favour more easily through them. But God
is infinitely more merciful than any Saint, and con-
sequently His Will is more readily inclined to hear
us than is the will of any Saint. Whence it would
seem superfluous to make the Saints mediators
between ourselves and God, and so ask them to
intercede for us.

But just as it is not by reason of any de-
ficiency on the part of the Divine Power that
It works through the mediumship of secondary
causes, whereas it rather tends to the fulfil-
ment of the harmony of the universe that His
Goodness should be more copiously diffused
upon things, so that things not only receive
from Him their own peculiar goodness, but
themselves become a source of goodness to
other things as well; so in the same way it is
not by reason of any lack of mercy on His part
that appeal to His mercy by means of the
prayers of the Saints is fitting ; but this is done
in order that the aforesaid harmony may be
preserved.

i6o On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

2. If we ought to ask the Saints to pray for us,
it can only be because we know that their prayers
are acceptable to God. But the more saintly is a
Saint, the more acceptable is his prayer to God.
Consequently we ought always to make the greater
Saints our intercessors with God, and never the
lesser ones.

Yet although the greater Saints are more
acceptable to God than are the lesser ones, it
is still useful to pray sometimes to the lesser
Saints. And this for five reasons: Firstly,
because a man sometimes has a greater devo-
tion to some lesser Saint than to one who is
greater; and the efficacy of our prayers de-
pends very much on our devotion. Secondly,
in order to avoid weariness; for unremitting
application to one thing begets distaste ; but
when we pray to various Saints fresh devo-
tional fervour is stirred up in practically each
case. Thirdly, because certain Saints are ap-
pointed the patrons of certain particular cases,
so S. Antony for the avoidance of hell-fire.
Fourthly, that so we may show due honour to
them all. Fifthly, because sometimes a favour
may be gained at the prayer of many which
would not be gained at the prayer of one alone.

3. Christ, even as man, is termed the Saint of

Saints^ ; and it belongs to Him, as man, to pray.

Yet we never ask Christ to pray for us. Hence it is

superfluous to make the Saints our intercessors

with God.

^ Dan. ix. 14.

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven i6i

But prayer is an act. And acts belong to
individual beings. Consequently, if we were
to say, Christ, pray for us, we should appear,
unless we added something, to be referring
this to Christ's Person, and thus we might
seem to fall into the error of Nestorius who
regarded the Person of the Son of Man as
distinct in Christ from the Person of the Son
of God; or perhaps, too, into the error of
Arius who regarded the Person of the Son
as less than the Father. In order, then, to
avoid these errors, the Church does not say,
Christ, pray for us, but Christ, hear us, or
Christ, have mercy on us.

4. Once more, when one is asked to intercede
for another, he presents the latter's prayers to
him with whom he has to intercede. But it is
superfluous to present anything to Him to Whom
all things are present. Hence it is superfluous to
make the Saints our intercessors with God.

But the Saints are not said to present our
prayers to God as though they were manifest-
ing to Him something which He did not know,
but in the sense that they ask that these
prayers may be heard by God, or that they
consult the Divine Truth concerning them, so
as to know what, according to His providence,
ought to be done.

5. Lastly, that must be held superfluous which
is done for the sake of something which, whether
the former were done or not, would yet take place
— or not take place — all the same. But similarly,

zi

i62 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the Saints would pray for us or not pray for us
whether we asked them to do so or not. For if we
deserve that they should pray for us, they would
pray for us, even though we did not ask them to do
so; if, on the other hand, we are not deserving that
they should pray for us, then they do not pray for
us — even though we ask them to do so. Hence to
ask them to pray for us seems altogether super-
fluous.

But a man becomes deserving that some
Saint should pray for him from the very fact
that with pure-hearted devotion he has re-
course to him in his needs. Hence it is not
superfluous to pray to the Saints.

Ill

Are the Saints' Prayers to God for us
always heard ?

In 2 Maccabees xv. 14 it is said: This is he that
prayeth much for the people, and for all the Holy
City, Jeremias the prophet of God; and that his
prayer was heard is evident from what follows, for
Jeremias stretched forth his right hand and gave to
Judas a sword of gold, saying : Take this holy sword,
a gift from God, etc.

Further, S. Jerome says^: " You say in your
book that while we live we can pray for one another,
but that after we are dead no one's prayer for
others will be heard "; and S. Jerome condemns
this statement thus: " If the Apostles and Martyrs

* Ep. contra Vigilantium, vi.

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven 163

while still in the body could pray for others while
as yet solicitous for themselves, how much more
when they have won their crown, completed the
victory, and gained their triumph ?"

Moreover, the Church's custom confirms this, for
she frequently asks to be helped by the prayers
of the Saints.

The Saints are said to pray for us in two ways :
firstly, by express prayer, when they by their ardent
desires appeal to the ears of the Divine Mercy for
us; secondly, by interpretative prayer — namely,
by their merits which, standing as the Saints do
in the sight of God, not only tend to their own
glory but are, as it were, suffrages — and even
prayers — for us; just as the Blood of Christ, shed
for us, is said to ask pardon for us. And in both
ways the prayers of the Saints are, as far as in them
lies, efficacious in obtaining what they ask for.
But that we do not obtain the fruit of their prayers
may be due to defects on our part, according, that
is, as they are said to pray for us in the sense that
their merits avail for us. But according as they
actually do pray for us — that is, ask something for
us by their desires — they are always heard. For the
Saints only wish what God wishes, and they only
ask for what they wish should be done ; what God,
however, wishes is always done — unless, indeed, we
are speaking of the antecedent will of God, according
to which He wills all men to be saved : this will is
not alwa3^s fulfilled. Hence it is not to be won-
dered at if what the Saints also will according to
this kind of will is not always fulfilled.

164 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

But some maintain that the Saints' prayers for
us are not ahvays heard, thus:

1 . If the Saints' prayers were always heard, they
would be especially heard when they pray for those
things which affect themselves. Yet they are not
always heard as regards these things, for to the
Martyrs who prayed for vengeance upon the in-
habitants of the earth it was said that they should
rest for a little time till the number of their brethren
should be filled up} Much less, then, are their
prayers heard for things that do not concern them.

But this prayer of the Martyrs is nothing
more than their desire to obtain the garment
of the body and the society of the Saints who
are to be saved; it expresses their agreement
with the Divine Justice which punishes the
wicked. Hence on those words of the Apoca-
lypse ,2 How long, O Lord . . ., the Ordinary
Gloss says: "They yearn for a greater joy,
and for the companionship of the Saints, and
they agree with the justice of God."

2. It is said in Jeremias^: // Moses and Samuel
shall stand before Me, My soul is not towards this
people. The Saints, then, are not always heard
when they pray for us to God.

But God here speaks of Moses and Samuel
according as they were in this life, for they
are said to have prayed for the people and
thus withstood the wrath of God. Yet none
the less, had they lived in Jeremias' time they

* Apoc. vi. II. 2 vi. 10. 3 XV. I,

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven 165

would not have been able to appease by their
prayers God's wrath upon the people, so great
was the latter 's wickedness. This is the mean-
ing of that passage.

3. The Saints in our Fatherland are said to be
the equals of the Angels.^ But the Angels are not
always heard in their prayers to God, as is evident
from DanieP: / am come for thy words. But the
Prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me
one and twenty days. But the Angel who spoke
had not come to Daniel's assistance without asking
his freedom from God; yet none the less the ful-
filment of his prayer was hindered. In the same
way, then, neither are the prayers of other Saints
to God for us always heard.

But this contest of the good Angels is not to
be understood in the sense that they put forth
contrary prayers before God, but that they
set before the Divine scrutiny conflicting merits
on either hand, and awaited the Divine de-
cision. Thus S. Gregory, expounding the
above words of Daniel, says: " These subHme
Spirits who rule over the nations in no sense
strive for those who do evil, but they scrutinize
their deeds and judge justly; hence, when the
faults or the merits of any nation are submitted
to the Council of the Supreme Court, he who is
set over that particular nation is described as
either losing or failing in the contest. But the
sole victory for all of them is the supreme will
of his Creator above him; and since they
^ S. Matt. xxii. 30. 2 x. 12-13.

i66 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

ever look towards that Will, they never desire
what they cannot obtain,"^ and hence never
ask for it. Whence it is clear that their
prayers are always heard.

4. Whoever obtains something by prayer in a
certain sense merits it. But the Saints who are
in our Fatherland are no longer capable of merit-
ing. Therefore they cannot obtain anything for us
from God by their prayers.

But although the Saints when once they
are in our Fatherland are not capable of
meriting for themselves, they are still capable
of meriting for others, or rather of helping
others by reason of their own previous merits.
For when alive they merited from God that
their prayers should be heard after death.
Or we might say that in prayer merit and the
power to obtain what we ask do not rest on the
same basis. For merit consists in a certain
correspondence between an act and the end
towards which it is directed and which is
given to it as its reward; but the impetratory
power of prayer rests upon the generosity of
him from whom we ask something. Conse-
quently prayer sometimes wins from the
generosity of him to whom it is made what
perhaps was not merited either by him who
asked nor by him for whom he asked. And
thus, though the Saints are no longer capable
of meriting, it does not follow that they are
incapable of winning things from God.
^ Moralia on Job, xvii. 12.

Of the Prayers of the Saints in Heaven 167

5. Again, the Saints conform their will in all
things to the Divine Will. Therefore they can only
will what they know God wills. But no one prays
save for what he wishes. Consequently they only
pray for what they know God wills. But what
God wills would take place whether they prayed
or not. Consequently their prayers have no power
to obtain things.

But, as is evident from the passage of
S. Gregory quoted above in reply to the third
difficulty, neither the Saints nor the Angels
will anything save what they see in the Divine
Will. And consequently they ask for nothing
else save this. But it does not follow that
their prayers are without fruit, for, as S.
Augustine says in his treatise, On the Pre-
destination of the Saints,^ and S. Gregory
in his Dialogues,^ the prayers of the Saints
avail for the predestinate, because perhaps it
was pre-ordained that they should be saved by
the prayers of those who interceded for them.
And so, too, God wills that by the prayers of
the Saints should be fulfilled what the Saints
see that He wills.

6. Lastly, the prayers of the entire Court of
Heaven should, if they can gain anything at all,
be far more efficacious than all the suffrages of the
Church on earth. But if all the suffrages of the
Church on earth were to be accumulated upon one
soul in Purgatory, it would be entirely freed from
punishment. Since, then, the Saints who are in

^ De Dono Perseverantice, xxii. ^ i. 8,

i68 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

our Fatherland have the same reason for praying
for the souls in Purgatory as they have for praying
for us, they would by their prayers, if they could
obtain anything for us, wholly deliver from suffering
those who are in Purgatory. But this is false, for
if it were true, then the suffrages of the Church
for the dead would be superfluous.

But the suffrages of the Church for the dead
are, as it were, satisfactions offered by the
living in place of the dead, and thus they
free the dead from that debt of punishment
which they have not paid. But the Saints
who are in our Fatherland are not capable of
making satisfaction. And thus there is no
parity between their prayers and the Church's
suffrages.

QUESTION CLXXIX

OF THE DIVISION OF LIFE INTO THE ACTIVE AND
THE CONTEMPLATIVE

PAGE

I. May Life be fittingly divided into the Active and

the Contemplative ? - - - 169

S. Augustine, De Consensu Evangelistarum,

I., iv. 8 - - - 172

,, Tractatus, cxxiv. 5, in Joannem - 172

II. Is this division of Life into the Active and the

Contemplative a sufficient one ? - - ^74

S. Augustine, 0//Ae rnw?7y, I., viii, 17 - 176

I

May Life be fittingly divided into the
Active and the Contemplative ?

S. Gregory the Great says^: " There are two
kinds of lives in which Almighty God instructs
us by His Sacred Word — namely, the active and
the contemplative."

Those things are properly said to live which
move or work from within themselves. But what
especially accords with the innermost nature of a
thing is that which is proper to it and towards
which it is especially inclined; consequently every
living thing shows that it is living by those very

1 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.
169

170 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

acts which are especially befitting it and towards
which it is especially inclined. Thus the life of
plants is said to consist in their growing and in their
producing seed ; the life of animals in their feeling
and moving ; while that of man consists in his under-
standing and in his acting according to reason.

Hence among men themselves each man's life
appears to be that in which he takes special
pleasure, that with which he is particularly occu-
pied, that, in fine, in which each one wishes to live
with a friend, as is said in the Ethics of Aristotle}

Since, then, some men are especially occupied
with the contemplation of the truth while others
are especially occupied with external things, man's
life may be conveniently divided into the active
and the contemplative.

Some, however, repudiate this division, thus:
I . The soul is by its essence the principle of
life; thus the Philosopher says^: " For living things,
to live is to be." But the same soul with its
faculties is the principle both of action and of
contemplation. Hence it would seem that life
cannot be suitably divided into the active and the
contemplative.

But the peculiar nature of every individual
thing — that which makes it actually be — is
the principle of its own proper action ; conse-
quently to live is said to be the very being of
living things, and this because living things — •
by the very fact that they exist through such
a nature — act in such a way.

* IX., xii. 21. ^ De Anima, II., iv. 4.

Of the Two Kinds of Life 171

2. Again, when one thing precedes another it is
unfitting to divide the former by differences which
find place in the latter. But action and con-
templation, like speculation and practice, are dis-
tinctions in the intellect, as is laid down by the
Philosopher.^ But we live before we understand;
for life is primarily in living things by their vege-
tative soul, as also the Philosopher says.^ There-
fore life is not fittingly divided according to
contemplation and action.

But we do not say that life universally
considered is divided into the active and the
contemplative, but that man's life is so
divided. For man derives his species from
his intellect, hence the same divisions hold
good for human life as hold good for the
intellect.

3. Lastly, the word "life" impHes motion, as
is clear from Denis the Areopagite.^ But con-
templation more especially consists in repose,
according to the words : When I go into my house
I shall repose myself with her ( Wisdom) ."*

But while contemplation implies a certain
repose from external occupations, it is still a
certain motion of the intellect in the sense
that every operation is a motion; in this sense
the Philosopher says that to feel and to under-
stand are certain motions in the sense that
motion is said to be the act of a perfect thing .^

^ De Anima, III., x. 2. ^ Ibid., II., iv. 2.

^ Of the Divine Names, vi. * Wisd. viii. 16.

^ De Anima, III., vii. i.

172 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

It is in this sense, too, that Denis ^ assigns
three movements to the soul in contempla-
tion: the direct, the circular, and the oblique.^

S. Augustine: Two virtues are set before the
human soul, the one active, the other contempla-
tive; the former shows the path, the latter shows
the goal; in the one we toil that so the heart may
be purified for the Vision of God, in the other we
repose and we see God; the one is spent in the
practice of the precepts of this temporal life, the
other is occupied with the teachings of the life
that is eternal. Hence it is that the one is a hfe
of toil and the other a life of rest; for the former
is engaged in purging away its sins, the latter
already stands in the light of the purified. Hence,
too, during this mortal life the former is occupied
with the works of a good life, whereas the latter
rather stands in faith, and, in the case of some few,
sees through a mirror in a dark tnanner, and enjoys
in part a certain glimpse of the Unchangeable
Truth {De Consensu Evangelistarum, I., iv. 8).

" The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of
my cup; it is Thou that wilt restore my inheritance
to me. The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places;
for my inheritance is goodly to me." ^

S. Augustine : There is another life, the life of
immortality, and in it there are no ills; there we
shall see face to face what we now see through a

^ Of the Divine Names, IV., i. 7.

* For a commentary on this passage of S. Denis, see
Qu. CLXXX., Art, 6, pp. 203-210. ^ Ps. xv. 5-6.

Of the Two Kinds of Life 173

glass and in a dark manner even when we have
made great advance in our study of the Truth.
The Church, then, knows of two kinds of Hfe
Divinely set before Her and commended to Her ;
in the one we walk by faith, in the other by sight ;
the one is the pilgrimage of time, the other is the
mansion of eternity; the one is a life of toil, the
other of repose; in the one we are on the way, in
the other in Our Father's Home; the one is spent
in the toil of action, the other in the reward of
contemplation ; the one turneth away from evil and
doth good, the other hath no evil from which to
turn away, but rather a Great Good Which it
enjoys ; the one is in conflict with the foe, the other
reigns — conscious that there is no foe; the one is
strong in adversity, the other knows of no adver-
sity; the one bridles the lusts of the flesh, the other
is given up to the joys of the Spirit; the one is
anxious to overcome, the other is tranquil in the
peace of victory; the one is helped in temptations,
the other, without temptation, rejoices in its
Helper; the one succours the needy, the other
dwells where none are needy ; the one condones the
sins of others that thereby its own sins may be
condoned, the other suffers naught that it can
pardon nor does ought that calls for pardon; the
one is afflicted in sufferings lest it should be uplifted
in good things, the other is steeped in such fulness
of grace as to be free from all evil that so, without
temptation to pride, it may cling to the Supreme
Good; the one distinguishes between good and
evil, the other sees naught save what is good;
the one therefore is good — yet still in miseries,

174 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the other is better— and in Blessedness (Tradatus,
cxxiv. 5, in Joannem).

" Jesu nostra Redemptio
Amor et Desiderium !
Deus Creator omnium.
Homo in fine temporum !"

II

Is THIS DIVISION OF LiFE INTO THE ACTIVE AND

THE Contemplative a sufficient one ?

These two kinds of Hfe are signified by the two
wives of Jacob — namely, the active hfe by Lia,
the contemplative by Rachel. They are also
signified by those two women who afforded hospi-
tality to the Lord : the contemplative, namely, by
Mary, the active by Martha, as S. Gregory says.^
But if there were more than two kinds of hfe, these
significations would not be fitting.

As we have said above, the division in question
concerns human life regarded as intellectual. And
the intellect itself is divided into the contempla-
tive and the active, for the aim of intellectual
knowledge is either the actual knowledge of the
truth — and this belongs to the contemplative
intellect, or it is some external action — and this
concerns the practical or active intellect. Hence
life is quite sufficiently divided into the active
and the contemplative.

But some argue that this division is not a
sufficient one, thus:

^ Moralia in Job, vi. i8 ; and Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

Of the Two Kinds of Life 175

1. The Philosopher^ says that there are three
specially excellent kinds of life: the pleasurable,
the civil — which seems to be identified with the
active — and the contemplative.

But the pleasurable life makes its end
consist in the pleasures of that body which we
have in common with the brute creation.
Hence, as the Philosopher says in the same
place, this is a bestial life. Consequently it
is not comprised in our division of life into
the active and the contemplative.

2. Again, S. Augustine^ speaks of three different
kinds of life : the life of leisure, which is referred to
the contemplative ; the busy life, which is referred
to the active life ; and he adds a third composed
of these two.

But things which hold a middle course are
compounded of the extremes, and hence are
virtually contained in them, as the tepid in
the hot and the cold, the pallid in the white
and the black. And similarly, under the
active and the contemplative lives is com-
prised that kind of life which is compounded
of them both. But just as in every mixture
one of the simple elements predominates, so
in this mixed kind of life now the contempla-
tive, now the active predominates.

3. Lastly, men's lives are diversified according
to their various occupations. But there are more
than two classes of human occupations.

^ Ethics, I., V. 21. 2 Of the City of God, xix. 2 and 19.

176 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

But all classes of human occupations are,
if they are concerned with the necessities of
this present life, and in accordance with right
reason, comprised under the active life which,
by properly regulated acts, takes heed for the
needs of the present life. But if these actions
minister to our concupiscences, then they fall
under the voluptuous life which is not com-
prised in the active life. But human occupa-
tions which are directed to the consideration
of the truth are comprised under the con-
templative life.

S. Augustine : Your life is hid with Christ in
God. When Christ shall appear, Who is your life,
then you also shall appear with Him in glory ;^ but
until that shall come to pass we see now through
a glass in a dark manner — that is, in imxages as it
were — but then face to face? This, indeed, is the
contemplation that is promised to us, the goal of
all our actions, the eternal perfection of all our
joys. For we are the sons of God, and it hath not
yet appeared what we shall be ; we know that when
He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is.^ And as He said to His servant
Moses : / am Who am . . . thus shall thou say to the
children of Israel : He Who is hath sent me to you,'*
even that shall we contemplate when we live in
eternity. Thus, too, He says: This is eternal life,
that they may know Thee, the only True God, and

^ Col. iii. 3-4. ^ I Cor. xiii. 12.

3 I John iii. 2. * Exod. iii. 14.

Of the Two Kinds of Life 177

Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent} And this shall
be when the Lord shall come and bring to light the
hidden things of darkness,^ when the gloom of our
mortal corruption shall have passed away. Then
will be our " morning," that " morning " of which
the Psalmist says : In the morning I will stand
before Thee and I will see? . . . Then, too, will
come to pass that which is written : Thou shall fill
me with joy with Thy countenanced Beyond that
joy we shall seek for nothing, for there is naught
further to be sought. The Father will be shown
to us, and that will suffice for us. Well did Philip
understand this when he said to the Lord : Show
us the Father, and it is enough for us f . . .^ Such
contemplation, indeed, is the reward of faith, and
for this reward's sake are our hearts purified by
faith, as it is written: Purifying their hearts by
faith^ (De Trinitate, L, viii. 17).

"Remember, O Lord, Thy bowels of compassion;
and Thy mercies that are from the beginning of the
world . The sin s of my youth and my ignorances do not
remember. According to Thy mercy remember Thou
me ; for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord. The Lord is
sweet and righteous; therefore He wiU give a law to
sinners in the way. He will guide the mild in judg-
ment ; He will teach the meek His ways. All the ways
of the Lord are mercy and truth to them that seek
after His covenant and His testimonies. For Thy
Name's sake, O Lord, Thou wUt pardon my sin; for
it is great."'

^ S. John xvii. 3. ^ i Cor. iv. 5. ^ Ps. v. 5.

* Ps. XV. II. ^ S. John xiv. 8. ^ Acts xv. 9.

' Ps. xxiv. 6-1 1.

12

QUESTION CLXXX

OF THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE

PAGE

I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the

Intellect, or does the Will enter into it ? - 1 79
S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad

3m - - - - - - 181

II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative

Life ? - - - - - 182

S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 - 185

III, Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts ? 187

S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human

Righteousness, viii. 18 - 190

„ Ep., cxxx. ad probam - - 191

IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the

Contemplation of God, or in the Considera-
tion of other Truths as well ? - - 192
S. Augustine, Sermon, CLXIX., xiv. 17 - ig6
,, Ep., cxxx. ad probam - - 197
V. Can the Contemplative Life attain, according to
the State of this Present Life, to the Con-
templation of the Divine Essence ? - I99
S. Augustine, Of the Sermon on the Mount,

II., ix. 35 - - - - - 203

VI. Is the Act of Contemplation rightly distinguished
according to the three kinds of Motion —
Circular, Direct, and Oblique .? - - 203

VII. Has Contemplation its Joys ? - - - 210

VIII. Is the Contemplative Life lasting ? - - 216

S. Augustine, Sermon, cclix., On Low Sunday 218
178

Of the Contemplative Life 179

I

Is THE Contemplative Life wholly confined
TO THE Intellect, or does the Will enter

INTO IT ?

S. Gregory the Great says^: " The contemplative
life means keeping of charity towards God and our
neighbour, and fixing all our desires on our Creator."
But desire and love belong to the affective or
appetitive powers; consequently the contemplative
life is not confined to the intellect.

When men's thoughts are principally directed
towards the contemplation of the truth, their life
is said to be " contemplative." But to " intend "
or direct is an act of the will, since " intention "
or direction is concerned with the end in view,
and the end is the proper object of the will. Hence
contemplation, having regard to the actual essence
of it, is an act of the intellect; but if we consider
that which moves us to the exercise of such an act,
then contemplation is an act of the will; for it is
the will which moves all the other faculties,
including the intellect, to the exercise of their
appropriate acts.

But the appetitive faculty — the will, that is —
moves us to consider some point either sensibly
or intellectually, that is, sometimes out of love
for the thing itself — for Where thy treasure is there
is thy heart also, — and sometimes out of love of that
very knowledge which follows from its considera-
tion. For this reason S. Gregory ^ makes the con-

* Moralia in Job, vi. i8. ^ Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

i8o On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

templative life consist in the love of God, since
from love of God a man yearns to look upon His
beauty. And since we are delighted when we
obtain what we love, the contemplative life conse-
quently results in delight, and this resides in the
affective powers, from which, too, love took its
rise.

Some, however, urge that the contemplative life
lies wholly in the intellect, thus :

1. The Philosopher says^: "The end of con-
templation is truth." But truth belongs wholly
to the intellect.

But from the very fact that truth is the
goal of contemplation it derives its character
of a desirable and lovable and pleasing good,
and in this sense it comes under the appetitive
powers.

2. Again, S. Gregory says^: " Rachel, whose
name is interpreted * the Beginning seen,' signifies
the contemplative life." But the vision of a
principle, or beginning, belongs to the intellect.

But it is love of God which excites in us
desire of the vision of the First Principle of
all — viz., God Himself — and hence S. Gregory
says^: " The contemplative life, trampling
underfoot all cares, ardently yearns to look
upon the face of the Creator."

* Metaphysics, ii. 3.

3 Moralia in Job, vi. 18 ; and Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

' On Ezechiel, loc. cit.

Of the Contemplative Life i8i

3. S. Gregory says^: "It belongs to the con-
templative life to rest from all exterior action."
But the affective or appetitive powers tend towards
external action. Hence it would seem that the
contemplative life does not come under them.

But the appetitive powers not only move
the bodily members to the performance of
external acts, but the intellect, too, is moved
by them to the exercise of contemplation.

"Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and
you that are near, know My strength. The sinners
in Sion are afraid, trembling hath seized upon the
hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring
fire ? which of you shall dwell with everlasting burn-
ings ? He that walketh in justices, and speaketh
truth, that casteth away avarice by oppression, and
shaketh his hands from all bribes, that stoppeth his
ears lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes that he
may see no evil. He shall dwell on high, the fortifica-
tions of rocks shall be his highness : bread is given
him, his waters are sure. His eyes shall see the King
IN His beauty, they shall see the land far ofE."^

S. Thomas : We do not enjoy all the things that
we have; and this is either because they do not
afford us delight, or because they are not the
ultimate goal of our desires, and so are incapable
of satisfying our yearnings or affording us repose.
But these three things the Blessed have in God :
for they see Him, and seeing Him they hold Him
ever present to them, for they have it in their
power always to see Him; and holding Him, they

1 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel. 2 jga. xxxiii. 13-17.

i82 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

enjoy Him, satisfying their yearnings with That
Which is The Ultimate End {Summa Theologica,
I., xii, y, ad 3m).

"As the hart pantcth after the fountains of water:
so my soul panteth after Thee, O God. My soul hath
thirsted after the strong living God ; when shall I
come and appear before the face of God ? My tears
have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to
me daily; Where is thy God ? These things I re-
membered, and poured out my soul in me ; for I shall
go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle,
even to the house of God. With the voice of joy and
praise ; the noise of one feasting. Why art thou sad,
O my soul ? and why dost thou trouble me ? Hope
in Crod, for I will still give praise to Him : the salvation
of my countenance, and my God."^

II

Do THE Moral Virtues pertain to the Con-
templative Life ?

The moral virtues are directed towards external
actions, and S. Gregory says^ : " It belongs to the
contemplative life to abstain from all external
action." Hence the moral virtues do not pertain
to the contemplative life.

A thing may pertain to the contemplative Hfe
either essentially or by way of disposition towards
it. Essentially, then, the moral virtues do not
pertain to the contemplative hfe; for the goal of
the contemplative life is the consideration of truth.
" Knowledge," says the Philosopher, " which per-
tains to the consideration of truth, has little to do
^ Ps. xli. 1-6. 2 Moralia in Job, vi. 18.

Of the Contemplative Life 183

with the moral virtues."^ Hence he also says^
that moral virtues pertain to active, not to con-
templative happiness.

But dispositively the moral virtues do belong to
the contemplative life. For actual contemplation,
in which the contemplative life essentially consists,
is impeded both by the vehemence of the passions
which distract the soul from occupation with the
things of the intellect, and divert it to the things
of sense, and also by external disturbances. The
moral virtues, however, keep down the vehemence
of the passions, and check the disturbance that
might arise from external occupations.

Consequently the moral virtues do pertain to the
contemplative life, but by way of disposition thereto.

But some maintain that the moral virtues do
pertain to the contemplative life, thus :

I, S. Gregory says^: "The contemplative life
means keeping charity towards God and our neigh-
bour with our whole soul." But all the moral
virtues — acts of which fall under precept — are
reduced to love of God and of our neighbour; for
Love is the fulfilling of the Law^ Consequently it
would seem that the moral virtues do pertain to
the contemplative life.

But, as we have already said, the contem-
plative life is motived by the affective faculties,
and consequently love of God and of our
neighbour are required for the contemplative
life. Impelling causes, however, do not enter

1 Ethics, II., iv. 3. 2 iiiid,^ X., viii. i.

3 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel. * Rom. xiii. lo.

184 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

into the essence of a thing, but prepare for it
and perfect it. Hence it does not follow that
the moral virtues essentially pertain to the
contemplative life.

2. Again; the contemplative life is especially
directed towards the contemplation of God, as
S. Gregory says: " The soul, trampling all cares
underfoot, ardently yearns to see its Creator's
face." But no one can attain to this without
that cleanness of heart which the moral virtues
procure : Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall
see God,^ and again : Follow peace with all men with
holiness, without which no man shall see God?

But holiness — that is, cleanness of heart —
is produced by those virtues which have to do
with those passions which hinder the purity
of the reason. And peace is produced by
justice — the moral virtue which is concerned
with our works : The work of justice shall be
peace^ inasmuch, that is, as a man, by re-
fraining from injuring others, removes occa-
sions of strife and disturbance.

3. Lastly, S. Gregory says'* : " The contempla-
tive life is something beautiful in the soul," and
it is for this reason that it is said to be typified by
Rachel, for She was well-favoured and of a beautiful
countenance^^ But the beauty of the soul, as
S. Ambrose remarks, depends upon the moral
virtues and especially on that of temperance.^

1 S. Matt. V. 8. 2 Heb. xii. 14.

3 Isa. xxxii. 17. * Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

^ Gen. xxix. 17. * De Officiis, i. 43, 45, 46.

Of the Contemplative Life 185

But beauty consists in a certain splendour
combined with a becoming harmony. Both
of these points are radically to be referred to
the reason, for to it belongs both the light
which manifests beauty, and the establishment
of due proportion in others. Consequently in
the contemplative life — which consists in the
act of the reason — beauty is necessarily and
essentially to be found; thus of the contem-
plation of Wisdom it is said : And I became a
lover of her beauty} But in the moral virtues
beauty is only found by a certain participa-
tion— in proportion, namely, as they share
in the harmony of reason ; and this is especially
the case with the virtue of temperance whose
function it is to repress those desires which
particularly obscure the light of reason. Hence
it is, too, that the virtue of chastity especially
renders a man fit for contemplation, for
venereal pleasures are precisely those which,
as S. Augustine points out, most drag down
the mind to the things of sense .^

S. Augustine : While it is true that any one of
these three kinds of life — the leisurely, the busy,
and the life commingled of them both — may be
embraced by anybody without prejudice to his
faith, and may be the means of leading him to his
eternal reward, it is yet important that a man
should take note of what it is that he holds
to through love of the truth, and should reflect

^ Wisd. viii. 2. ^ Soliloquies, i. 10.

i86 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

on the nature of the work to which he devotes
himself at the demand of charity. For no man
should be so addicted to leisure as for its sake to
neglect his neighbour's profit; neither should any
man be so devoted to the active life as to forget
the thought of God. For in our leisured life we
are not to find delight in mere idle repose, but the
seeking and finding of the truth must be our aim ;
each must strive to advance in that, to hold fast
what he finds, and yet not to grudge it to his
neighbour. Similarly, in the life of action: we
must not love honour in this life, nor power; for
all things are vain under the sun. But we must love
the toil itself which comes to us together with such
honour or power if it be rightly and profitably
used — as tending, that is, to the salvation under
God of those under us. . . . Love of truth, then,
seeks for a holy leisure ; the calls of charity compel
us to undertake the labours of justice. If no one
lays on us this burden, then must we devote our
leisure to the search after and the study of the
truth; but if such burden be imposed upon us, we
must shoulder it at the call of charity; yet withal
we must not wholly abandon the delights of the
truth, lest while the latter's sweetness is withdrawn
from us, the burden we have taken up overwhelm
us {Of the City of God, xix. 19).

"O expectation of Israel, the Saviour thereof in
time of trouble : why wilt Thou be as a stranger in the
land, and as a wayfaring man turning in to lodge ?
Why wilt Thou be as a wandering man, as a mighty
man that cannot save ? but Thou, O Lord, art among
us, and Thy Name is called upon us, forsake us not."^

^ Jer. xiv. 8, 9.

Of the Contemplative Life 187

III

Does the Contemplative Life comprise many

Acts ?

By " life " is here meant any work to which a
man principally devotes himself. Hence if there
were many acts or works in the contemplative life,
it would not be one life, but several.

It must be understood that we are speaking of
the contemplative life as it concerns man. And
between men and Angels there is, as S. Denis says,^
this difference — that whereas an Angel knows the
truth by one simple act of intelligence, man, on
the contrary, only arrives at a knowledge of the
simple truth by arguing from many premises.
Hence the contemplative life has only a single act
in which it finds its final perfection — namely, the
contemplation of the truth — and from this one act
it derives its oneness. But at the same time it
has many acts by means of which it arrives at this
final act. Of these various acts, some are concerned
with the establishment of principles from which the
mind proceeds to the contemplation of truth ;
others, again, are concerned with deducing from
these principles that truth the knowledge of which
is sought. But the ultimate act, the complement
of the foregoing, is the contemplation of truth.

Some, however, maintain that many acts pertain
to the contemplative life, thus :

^ Of the Divine Names, vii. 2.

t88 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

I. Richard of S. Victor^ distinguishes between
contemplation, meditation, and thought. But these
all seem to belong to the contemplative life.

But thought, according to Richard of
S. Victor, seems to signify the consideration
of many things from which a man intends to
gather some single truth . Consequently, under
the term thought may be comprised per-
ceptions by the senses, whereby we know
certain effects — imaginations, too, as well as
investigation of different phenomena by the
reason; in a word, all those things which
conduce to a knowledge of the truth we are in
search of. At the same time, according to
S. Augustine,^ every operation of the intellect
may be termed thought. Meditation, again,
seems to refer to the process of reasoning
from principles which have to do with the
truth we desire to contemplate. And con-
templation, according to S. Bernard,^ means
the same thing, although, according to the
Philosopher,'* every operation of the intellect
may be termed " consideration." But con-
templation is concerned with the simple dwell-
ing upon the truth itself. Hence Richard of
S. Victor says^: " Contemplation is the soul's
clear, free, and attentive dwelling upon the
truth to be perceived ; meditation is the outlook
of the soul occupied in searching for the truth ;

* On Contemplation, i. 3 and 4. ^ De Trinitate, xiv. 7.
' De Consider atione, ii. 2. * De Anima. II., i. 2.

'^ Loc. cii., i. 4.

Of the Contemplative Life 189

thought is the soul's glance, ever prone to
distraction."

2. Further, the Apostle says : But we all, beholding
the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed
into the same image from glory to glory} But this
refers to the contemplative life; therefore, besides
the three things already mentioned — namely, con-
templation, meditation and thought, — speculation ,
too, enters into the contemplative life.

But speculation , as S. Augustine's Gloss has
it, 2 " is derived from speculum, a ' mirror,'
not from specula, a ' watch-tower.' " To see
a thing in a mirror, however, is to see a
cause by an effect in which its likeness is
shown; thus speculation seems reducible to
meditation .

3. Again, S. Bernard says^: " The first and chief-
est contemplation is the marvelling at God's
Majesty." But to " marvel " is, according to
S. John Damascene,'* a species of fear. Conse-
quently it seems that many acts belong to con-
templation.

But wonderment is a species of fear arising
from our learning something which it is be-
yond our powers to understand. Hence
wonderment is an act subsequent to the con-
templation of sublime truth, whereas con-
templation reaches its goal in the affective
powers.

^ 2 Cor. iii. i8. 2 £fg Trinitate, xv. 8.

^ De Consideratione , v. 14. * De Fide Orthodoxa, ii. 15.

igo On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

4. Lastly, prayer, reading, and meditation seem
to belong to the contemplative life. Devout hear-
ing, too, belongs to it, for it is said of Mary^ who
is the type of the contemplative life, that sitting
at the Lord's feet, she heard His word}

Man, however, arrives at the knowledge of
truth in two ways: first of all, by receiving
things from others; as regards, then, the
things a man receives from God: prayer is
necessary, according to the words : / called upon
God, and the spirit of Wisdom came upon me?
And as for the things he receives from men :
hearing is necessary if he receive them from
one who speaks, reading is necessary if it be
question of what is handed down in Holy
Scripture. And secondly, a man arrives at
the knowledge of truth by his own personal
study, and for this is required meditation.

" Uni trinoque Domino
Sit serapiterna gloria !
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in Patria !"

S. Augustine : As long, then, as we are absent
from the Lord, we walk by faith and not by sight, ^
whence it is said : The just man shall live in his
faith} And this is our justice as long as we are
on our pilgrimage — namely, that here now by the
uprightness and perfection with which we walk we
strive after that perfection and fulness of justice

i S. Luke X. 39. 2 Wisd. vii. 7.

3 2 Cor. V. 6-7. • Hab. ii. 4.

Of the Contemplative Life 191

where, in all the glory of its beauty, will be full
and perfect charity. Here we chastise our body
and bring it into subjection; here we give alms by
conferring benefits and forgiving offences against
ourselves; and we do this with joy and from the
heart, and are ever instant in prayer; and all this
we do in the light of that sound doctrine by which
is built up right faith, solid hope, and pure charity.
This, then, is our present justice whereby we run
hungering and thirsting after the perfection and
fulness of justice, so that hereafter we may be
filled therewith {De Perfectione justiiice Hominis,
viii. 18).

* * * * *

S. Augustine : You know, then, I think, not only
how you ought to pray, but what you ought to
pray for; and this not because I teach you, but
because He teaches you Who has deigned to teach
us all. The Life of Beatitude is what we have to
seek; this we have to ask for from the Lord God.
And what Beatitude means is, with many, a source
of much dispute. But why should we appeal to
the many and their many opinions ? For pithily
and truly it is said in God's Scripture: Happy is
that people whose God is the Lord !^ Oh, that we
may be counted amongst that people ! Oh, that
we may be enabled to contemplate Him, and
may come one day to live with Him unendingly !
The end of the commandment is charity from a pure
heart and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith?
And among these three, hope stands for a good
^ Ps. cxliii. 15. 2 I -pijji i 2.

192 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

conscience. Faith, therefore, with hope and charity,
leads to God the man who prays — that is, the man
who beheves, who hopes, and who desires, and
who in the Lord's Prayer meditates what he should
ask from the Lord {Ep. cxxx. ad probani).

"For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins
have been changed : and I am brought to nothing, and
I knew not. I am become as a beast before Thee ;
and I am always with Thee. Thou hast held me by
my right hand ; and by Thy will Thou hast conducted
me; and with glory Thou hast received me. For
what have I in Heaven ? and besides Thee what do
I desire upon earth ? For Thee my flesh and my
heart hath fainted away; Thou art the God of my
heart; and the God that is my portion for ever. For
behold they that go far from Thee shall perish ; Thou
hast destroyed all them that are disloyal to Thee.
But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put
my hope in the Lord God : that I may declare all
Thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion."^

IV

Does the Contemplative Life consist solely
IN THE Contemplation of God, or in the
Consideration of other Truths as well ?

S. Gregory says^: " In contemplation it is the
Principle — namely, God — which is sought."

A thing may come under the contemplative life
in two ways : either primarily, or secondarily —
that is, dispositively. Now primarily the contem-
plation of Divine Truth belongs to the contem-
plative life, since such contemplation is the goal of

^ Ps. Ixxii. 21-28. 2 Moralia in Job, vi. 28.

Of the Contemplative Life 193

all human life. Hence S. Augustine says^: " The
contemplation of God is promised to us as the goal
of all our acts and the eternal consummation of all
our joys." And this will be perfect in the future
life when we shall see God face to face — when,
consequently, it will render us perfectly blessed.
But in our present state the contemplation of
Divine Truth belongs to us only imperfectly —
namely, through a glass and in a dark manner ;
it causes in us now a certain commencement of
beatitude, which begins here, to be continued in
the future. Hence even the Philosopher^ makes
the ultimate happiness of man consist in the con-
templation of the highest intelligible truths.

But since we are led to a contemplation of God
by the consideration of His Divine works — The
invisible things of God . . . are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made^ — it follows
also that the contemplation of the Divine works
belongs in a secondary sense to the contemplative
life — according, namely, as by it we are led to the
knowledge of God. For this reason S. Augustine
says^ : " In the study of created things we must not
exercise a mere idle and passing curiosity, but must
make them a stepping-stone to things that are
immortal and that abide for ever."

Thus from what we have said it is clear that four
things belong, and that in a certain sequence, to
the contemplative life: firstly, the moral virtues;
secondly, other acts apart from that of contem-
plation; thirdly, the contemplation of the Divine

^ On the Trinity, i. 8. ^ Ethics, X., vii. 2.

3 Rom. i. 20. * De Vera Religione, xxix.

13

194 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

works ; and fourthly — and this is the crown of them
all — the actual contemplation of the Divine Truth.

Some, however, say that the contemplative life
is not merely confined to the contemplation of God
but is extended to the consideration of any truth
whatsoever, thus :

I. In Ps. cxxxviii. 14 we read: Wonderful are
Thy works / My soul ktzowelh right well ! But the
knowledge of the works of God is derived from a
certain contemplation of the truth. Whence it
would seem that it belongs to the contemplative
life to contemplate not only the Divine Truth,
but also any other truth we please.

But David sought the knowledge of God's
works that he might thereby be led to God
Himself, as he says elsewhere : / meditated on
all Thy works, I mused upon the works of Thy
hands ; I stretched forth my hands to Thee}

2. Again, S. Bernard says^: " The first point in
contemplation is to marvel at God's majesty; the
second, at His judgments ; the third, at His benefits ;
the fourth, at His promises." But of these only
the first comes under the Divine Truth — the rest
are effects of it.

But from the consideration of the Divine
judgments a man is led to the contemplation
of the Divine justice ; and from a considera-
tion of the Divine benefits and promises a
man is led to a knowledge of the Divine mercy

^ Ps. cxlii. 5, 6. ^ De Consideratione, v. 14.

Of the Contemplative Life 195

and goodness, as it were by effects either
already shown or to be shown.

3. Once more, Richard of S. Victor^ distinguishes
six kinds of contemplation ; the first is accord-
ing to the imagination simply, when, namely, we
consider corporeal things; the second is in the
imagination directed by the reason, as when we
consider the harmony and arrangement of the
things of the senses; the third is in the reason, but
based on the imagination, as when by the con-
sideration of visible things we are uplifted to the
invisible ; the fourth is in the reason working on the
things of the reason, as when the soul occupies itself
with invisible things unknown to the imagination;
the fifth is above the reason, but not beyond its
grasp, when, for instance, we know by Divine
Revelation things which cannot be comprehended
by the human reason; and the sixth is above the
reason and beyond its grasp, as when by Divine
illumination we know things which are apparently
repugnant to human reason — for example, the
things we are told concerning the mystery of the
Holy Trinity.

And only the last named of these seems to come
under Divine Truth; consequently contemplation
of the truth is not limited to Divine Truth, but
extends also to those truths which we consider in
created things.

But by these six are signified the steps by
which we ascend through created things to

^ Of Contemplation, i. 6.

196 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the contemplation of God. For in the first we
have the perception of the things of sense; in
the second, the progress from the things of sense
to the things of the inteUect; in the third,
judgment upon the things of sense according
to intellectual principles; in the fourth, the
simple consideration of intellectual truths at
which we have arrived by means of the things
of sense; in the fifth, the contemplation of
intellectual truths to which we could not attain
by the things of sense, but which can be grasped
by reason ; in the sixth, the contemplation of
intellectual truths such as the reason can
neither find nor grasp — truths, namely, which
belong to the sublime contemplation of the
Divine Truth, in which contemplation is
finally perfected.

4. Lastly, in the contemplative life the contem-
plation of truth is sought as being man's perfection.
But any truth whatsoever is a perfection of the
human intellect. Consequently the contemplative
life consists in the contemplation of any kind of
truth whatsoever.

i But the ultimate perfection of the human
intellect is the Divine Truth ; other truths per-
fect the intellect by way of preparation for
the Divine Truth.

S. Augustine : Martha, Martha, thou hast chosen
a good part, but Mary hath chosen the better.
Yours is good — for it is good to busy oneself with

Of the Contemplative Life 197

waiting on the Saints — but hers is better. What
you have chosen will pass away at length. You
minister to the hungry, you minister to the thirsty,
you make the beds for them that would sleep, you
find house-room for them that need it — but all these
things will pass away 1 For there will come a time
when none will hunger, when none will thirst,
when none will sleep. And then thy care will be
taken from thee. But Mary hath chosen the better
part, which shall never be taken from her ! It
shall not be taken away, for she chose to live the
life of contemplation, she chose to live by the Word.
What kind of life will that be that flows from the
Word without spoken word ? Here on earth she
drew life from the Word, but through the medium
of the spoken word. Then will be life, from the
Word indeed, but with no spoken word. For the
Word Himself is life. We shall be like Him, for we
shall see Him as He is ^ {Sermon, CLXIX., xiv. 1 7).

* * * * *

S. Augustine : One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this will I seek after : that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life ! ^

Whosoever asks for This One Thing and seeks
after It prays with sure and certain confidence;
nor need he fear lest, when he shall have obtained
It, he shall find It disagreeable to him, for without
It naught that he prays for as he ought, and
obtains, is of any avail. For this is the one, true,
and only Blessed Life — to contemplate the delights
of the Lord for eternity, in immortality and incor-

^ I John iii. 2. ^ Ps. xxvi. 4.

198 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

ruptibility of body as well as soul. For the sake
of This One Thing are all other things to be sought
after, and only thus our petitions for them are
rendered not unbecoming. Whosoever hath this
One Thing will have all that he wishes for, nor
indeed will he be able to wish there for anj^thing
which is unfitting. For there is the Fountain of
Life, for which we must now thirst in prayer as
long as we live by hope — as long, too, as we see
not What we hope for. For we dwell 'neath the
shadow of His wings before Whom is all our desire,
that so we may be inebriated with the plenty of His
house, and may drink of the torrent of His pleasure :
for with Him is the Fountain of Life, and in His
light we shall see light} Then shall our desire be
sated with all good things, then will there be naught
for us to seek for with groanings, but only What we
shall cling to with joy. Yet none the less, since
this is the peace that surpasseth all understanding ,
even when praying for it we know not what we should
pray for as we ought" ^ {Ep. cxxx. ad probam).

"He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and
the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face,
and the reproach of His people He shall take away
from off the whole earth : for the Lord hath spoken it.
And they shall say in that day : Lo, this is our God,
we have waited for Him, and He will save us : this is
the Lord, we have patiently waited for Him, we shall
rejoice and be joyful in His salvation. "^

' Ps. XXXV. 9, 10. 2 Phil. iv. 7 ; Rom. viii. 26.

^ Isa. XXV. 8, 9.

Of the Contemplative Life 199

V

Can the Contemplative Life attain, according
TO the State of this Present Life, to the
Contemplation of the Divine Essence ?

S. Gregory says^: " As long as we live in this
mortal flesh none of us can make such progress in
the virtue of contemplation as to fix his mind's
gaze on that Infinite Light." ^i^rrx^i-

S. Augustine also says^: " No one who looks on
God lives with that hfe with which we mortals live
in the bodily senses ; but unless he be in some sort
dead to this hfe, whether as having wholly de-
parted from the body, or as rapt away from the
bodily senses, he is not uplifted to that vision."

A man, then, can be " in this life " in two ways :
he can be in it actually — that is, as actually using
his bodily senses — and when he is thus " in the
body " no contemplation such as belongs to this
present life can attain to the vision of the Essence of
God; or a man may be " in this life " potentially,
and not actually; that is, his soul may be joined
to his body as its informing principle, but in such
fashion that it neither makes use of the bodily senses
nor even of the imagination, and this is what takes
place when a man is rapt in ecstasy : in this sense
contemplation such as belongs to this hfe can attain
to the vision of the Divine Essence.

Consequently the highest degree of contempla-

1 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

2 De Genesi ad Litt., xii. 27.

200 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

tion which is compatible with the present Hfe is
that which S. Paul had when he was rapt in ecstasy
and stood midway between the state of this present
life and the next.

Some, however, say that the contemplative life
can, even according to our present state of life,
attain to the vision of the Divine Essence, thus :

I . Jacob said : / have seen God face to face, and
my soul hath been saved} But the vision of the
face of God is the vision of the Divine Essence.
Whence it would seem that a man may by con-
templation actually reach, even during this present
life, to the vision of the Essence of God.

But S. Denis says^: " If anyone saw God
and understood what he saw, then it was not
God he saw, but something belonging to Him."
And similarly S. Gregory says^: " Almighty
God is never seen in His Glory, but the soul
gazes at something derived from It, and thus
refreshed, makes advance, and so ultimately
arrives at the glory of vision." Hence when
Jacob said, / saw God face to face, we are not
to understand that he saw the Essence of God,
but that he saw some appearance — that is, some
imaginary appearance — in which God spoke
to him; or, as the Gloss of S. Gregory'* has it,
" Since we know people by the face, Jacob
called knowledge of God His face."

* Gen. xxxii. 30. 2 Epistola I., to Cuius the Monk.
3 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

* The Glossa Ordinaria, taken from S. Gregory's Moralia
in Job, xxiv. 5.

Of the Contemplative Life 201

2. Further, S. Gregory says^: " Contemplative
men turn back within upon themselves in that they
search into spiritual things, and do not carry with
them the shadows of things corporeal; or if per-
chance they touch them, they drive them away
with discreet hands. But when they would look
upon the Infinite Light, they put aside all images
which limit It, and in striving to arrive at a height
superior to themselves, they become conquerors of
their nature." But a man is only withheld from
the vision of the Divine Essence, which is Infinite
Light, by the necessity he is under of turning to
corporeal images. From this it would seem that
contemplation can, even in this present life, arrive
at the sight of the Infinite Essential Light.

But human contemplation according to this
present state cannot exist without recourse
to the imagination, for it is in accordance with
man's nature that he should see intelligible
forms through the medium of pictures in the
imagination, as also the Philosopher teaches.^
Yet intellectual knowledge does not consist in
such images, rather does the intellect contem-
':-[ plate in them the purity of intelligible truth;
and this is not merely the case in natural
knowledge, but also in those things which we
know by revelation. For S. Denis says : " The
Divine Light manifests to us the Angelic
hierarchies by means of symbolical figures by
force of which we are restored to the simple
ray," that is, to the simple knowledge of
1 Moralia, vi. 27. 2 Dg Anima, III., vii. 3.

202 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

intelligible truth. It is thus that we ought to
understand S. Gregory's words when he says:
" In contemplation men do not carry with them
the shadows of things corporeal," for their con-
templation does not abide in these things but
rather in the consideration of intelligible truth.

3. Lastly, S. Gregory says^: "To the soul that
looks upon its Creator all created things are but
narrow. Consequently the man of God — namely, the
Blessed Benedict — who saw in a tower a fiery globe
and the Angels mounting up to Heaven, was doubt-
less only able to see these things by the light of God."
But the Blessed Benedict was then still in this life.
Consequently contemplation, even in this present
life, can attain to the vision of the Essence of God.

But we are not to understand from S.
Gregory's words that the Blessed Benedict
saw the Essence of God in that vision; S.
Gregory wishes to show that since " to him who
looks upon his Creator all created things are
but as nothing," it follows that certain things
can easily be seen by the illumination afforded
by the Divine Light. Hence he adds: " For,
however little of the Creator's Light he sees,
all created things become of small account."

Veni Sancte Spiritus
Et emitte coelitus
Lucis Tuae radium !

O Lux Beatissima
Replc cordis intima
Tuorum fidelium !

^ Dialogues, ii. 35.

Of the Contemplative Life 203

S. Augustine : And thus, the remaining burden of
this mortal hfe being laid aside at death, man's
happiness will, in God's own time, be perfected from
every point of view — that happiness which is begun
in this life, and to the attainment and securing of
which at some future time our every effort must
now tend {Of the Sermon on the Mount, II., ix. 35).

"The old error is passed away; Thou wilt keep
peace: peace, because we have hoped in Thee. You
have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord
God mighty for ever. And in the way of Thy judg-
ments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for Thee :
Thy Name, and Thy remembrance are the desire of
the soul. My soul hath desired Thee in the night :
yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning
early I will watch to Thee."^

VI

Is THE Act of Contemplation rightly distin-
guished ACCORDING TO THE THREE KINDS OF

Motion — Circular, Direct, and Oblique ?

S. Denis the Areopagite^ does so distinguish the
acts of contemplation.

The operation of the intellect in which con-
templation essentially consists is termed " motion "
in the sense that motion is the act of a perfect
thing, according to the Philosopher.^ And since
we arrive at a knowledge of intelligible things
through the medium of the things of sense, and

^ Isa. xxvi. 3, 4, 8, 9. 2 Qj ifig Divine Names, IV., i. 7.
' De Anima, III., vii. i and 2.

204 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the operations of the senses do not take place
without motion, it follows that the operations
also of the intellect are correctly described as a
species of motion, and are differentiated according
to the analogy of divers motions. But the more
perfect and the chiefest of bodily motions are local
motions, as is proved by the Philosopher.^ Conse-
quently the chief intellectual motions are described
according to the analogy of these latter.

Now, there are three species of local motion :
one is circular, according as a thing is moved
uniformly about the same centre; another is direct,
according as a thing proceeds from one point to
another; and a third is oblique, compounded as it
were from the two foregoing.

Hence in intelligible operations, that which
simply has uniformity is attributed to circular
motion ; that intellectual motion by which a man
proceeds from one thing to another is attributed
to direct motion; while that intellectual operation
which has a certain uniformity combined with
progress towards different points, is attributed to
obHque motion.

All, however, do not agree with this division,
thus:

I . Contemplation means a state of repose, as is
said in Wisdom^ : When I go into my house I shall
repose myself with Her. And motion is opposed
to repose. Consequently the operations of the
contemplative life cannot be designated according
to these different species of motion.

* Physica, VIII., vii. 2. ^ viii. i6.

Of the Contemplative Life 205

But whereas external bodily movements

are opposed to that repose of contemplation

which is understood to be rest from external

occupations, the motion of intellectual opera-

^,? tions belongs precisely to the repose of con-

M templation.

2. Again, the action of the contemplative life
pertains to the intellect wherein man is at one with
the Angels. But S. Denis does not apply these
motions to the Angels in the same way as he does
to the soul ; for he says that the circular motion
of the Angels " corresponds to the illumination of
the beautiful and the good." But of the circular
motion of the soul he gives several definitions, of
which the first is " the return of the soul upon
itself as opposed to external things"; the second
is " a certain wrapping together of the powers of
the soul whereby it is freed from error and from
external occupation "; and the third is " the union
of the soul with things superior to it." Similarly,
he speaks in different terms of the direct motion
of the soul as compared with that of the Angels.
For he says that the direct motion of an Angel is
" according as he proceeds to the care of the things
subject to him"; while the direct motion of the
soul is made to consist in two things : first of all
" that it proceeds to those things which are around
it " ; secondly, that " from external things it is
uplifted to simple contemplation." And lastly,
he explains the oblique motion differently in each
case. For he makes the oblique motion of the
Angels consist in this that, " while providing for

2o6 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

those that have less than themselves, they remain
in the same attitude towards God"; but the
oblique motion of the soul he explains as meaning
that " the soul is illumined by Divine knowledge
rationally and diffusely."

Consequently it does not appear that the opera-
tions of contemplation are fittingly distinguished
according to the aforesaid species of motion.

But while man's intellect is generally the
same with that of the Angels, the intellectual
powers of the latter are far higher than in
man. It was therefore necessary to assign
the aforesaid motions to human souls and to
the Angels in different fashion in proportion
as their intellectual powers are not uniform.
For the Angelic intellect has uniform know-
ledge in two respects : firstly, because the
Angels do not acquire intelligible truth from
the variety of compound things; and secondly,
because they do not understand intelligible
truth discursively, but by simple intuition.
Whereas the intellect of the human soul, on
the contrary, acquires intelligible truth from
the things of sense, and understands it by the
discursive action of the reason.

Hence S. Denis assigns to the Angels circular
motion in that they uniformly and unceasingly,
without beginning or end, gaze upon God;
just as circular motion, which has neither
beginning nor end, is uniformly maintained
round the same central point. But in the
case of the human soul, its twofold lack of

Of the Contemplative Life 207

uniformity must be removed before it can
attain to the above-mentioned uniformity.
For there must first be removed that lack of
uniformity which arises from the diversity of
external things: that is, the soul must quit
external things. And this S. Denis expresses
first of all in his definition of the circular
motion of the soul when he speaks of " the
return of the soul upon itself as opposed to
external things." And there must be re-
moved in the second place that second lack
of uniformity which arises from the discursive
action of the reason. And this takes place
when all the operations of the soul are reduced
to the simple contemplation of intelligible
truth. This forms the second part of S. Denis's
definition of this circular motion — namely,
when he speaks of the necessity of " a certain
wrapping together of the powers of the soul,"
with the result that, when discursive action
thus ceases, the soul's gaze is fixed on the
contemplation of the one simple truth. And
in this operation of the soul there is no room
for error, just as there is no room for error in
our understanding of first principles which we
know by simple intuition.

Then, when these first two steps have been
taken, S. Denis puts in the third place that uni-
formity, like to that of the Angels, by which the
soul, laying asid^ all else, persists in the simple
contemplation of God. And this he expresses
when he says: " Then, as now made uniform,
it, as a whole " — that is, as conformed (to

2o8 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

God) — " is, with all its powers unified, led by
the hand to the Beautiful and the Good."

But the direct motion in the Angels cannot
be understood in the sense that, by consider-
ing, they proceed from one point to another;
but solely according to the order of their provi-
dential care for others — according, namely,
as the superior Angels illumine the inferior
through those who stand between. And this
is what S. Denis means when he says that the
direct motion of an Angel is " according as he
proceeds to the care of the things subject to
him, taking in his course all things that are
direct " following — that is, those things which
are disposed in direct order. But to the
human soul S. Denis assigns direct motion in the
sense that it proceeds from the exterior things
of sense to the knowledge of intelligible
things.

And he assigns oblique motion to the Angels
— a motion, that is, compounded of the direct
and the circular — inasmuch as an Angel,
according to his contemplation of God, pro-
vides for those inferior to him. To the
human soul, on the contrary, he assigns this
same oblique motion, similarly compounded
of the direct and the circular motions, inas-
much as in its reasonings it makes use of the
Divine illuminations.

3. Lastly, Richard of S. Victor^ gives many
other and different kinds of motion. For, follow-

^ Of Contemplation, i. 5.

Of the Contemplative Life 209

ing the analogy of the birds of the air, he says of
these latter that "some at one time ascend on
high, at another swoop down to earth, and they
do this again and again; others turn now to the
right, now to the left, and this repeatedly; others
go in advance, others fall behind ; some sail round
and round in circles, now narrower and now
wider ; while others again remain almost immovably
suspended in one place." From all which it would
seem that there are not merely three movements
in contemplation.

But all these diversities of motion which are
expressed by, up and down, to right and left,
backwards and forwards, and in varying circles,
are reducible either to direct or to oblique
motion, for they all signify the discursive
action of the reason. For if this discursive
action be from the genus to the species or from
the whole to the part, it will be, as Richard
of S. Victor himself explains, motion upwards
and downwards. If, again, it means argu-
mentation from one thing to its opposite, it
will come under motion to right and left.
Or if it be deduction from cause to effect, then
it will be motion backwards and forwards.
And finally, if it mean arguing from the
accidents which surround a thing, whether
nearly or remotely, it will be circuitous
motion. But the discursive action of the
reason arguing from the things of sense to
intelligible things according to the orderly
progress of the natural reason, belongs to

14

210 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

direct motion. When, however, it arises from
Divine illuminations, it comes under oblique
motion, as we have already said (in the reply
to the second argument). Lastly, only the
immobility which he mentions will come under
circular motion.

Whence it appears that S. Denis has quite
sufficiently, and with exceeding subtlety,
described the movements of contemplation.

"For behold my witness is in Heaven, and He
that knoweth my conscience is on high. For behold
short years pass away, and I am walking in a path by
which I shall not return."^

VII

Has Contemplation its Joys ?

In Wisdom viii. i6 we read: Her conversation
hath no bitterness, nor Her company any tediousness,
but joy and gladness. And S. Gregory says^: " The
contemplative life means a truly lovable sweetness."

There are two sources of pleasure in contempla-
tion; for, firstly, there is the very act of contem-
plating, and everyone finds a certain pleasure in
the performance of acts which are appropriate to
his nature or to his habits. And the contempla-
tion of truth is natural to man as a rational animal ;
hence it is that " all men naturally desire to know,"
and consequently find a pleasure in the knowledge
of truth. And this pleasure is enhanced according
as a man has habits of wisdom and knowledge

* Job xvi. 20, 23. 2 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

Of the Contemplative Life 211

which enable him to indulge in contemplation
without difficulty.

Secondly, contemplation is pleasurable owing to
the object which we contemplate, as when a man
looks at something which he loves. And this holds
good of even bodily vision, for not only is the mere
exercise of the visual faculties pleasurable, but the
seeing people whom we love is pleasurable.

Since, then, the contemplative life especially
consists in the contemplation of God, to which
contemplation we are moved by charity, it follows
that the contemplative life is not merely pleasur-
able by reason of the simple act of contemplating,
but also by reason of Divine Love Itself. And in
both these respects the delights of contemplation
exceed all other human delights. For on the
one hand spiritual delights are superior to carnal
delights; and on the other hand, the love of Divine
charity wherewith we love God exceeds all other
love ; whence it is said in the Psalm : Taste and see
that the Lord is sweet}

Some maintain, however, that contemplation is
not pleasurable, thus:

I. Pleasure belongs to the appetitive powers,
whereas contemplation is mainly in the intellect.

But while the contemplative life mainly
consists in the intellect, it derives its principle
from the affective powers, since a man is
moved to contemplation by love of God. And
since the end corresponds to the principle, it
follows that the goal and term of the con-

^ Ps. xxxiii. g.

212 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

templative life is in the affective powers, in
the sense, namely, that a man finds a pleasure
in the sight of a thing which he loves, and this
very pleasure stirs up in him a yet greater love.
Hence S. Gregory says^: " When a man sees
one whom he loves his love is yet more en-
kindled." And in this lies the full perfection
of the contemplative life: that the Divine
Truth should not only be seen but loved.

2. Again, strife and contention hinder delight.
But in contemplation there is strife and conten-
tion, for S. Gregory says^: " The soul, when it
strives after the contemplation of God, finds itself
engaged in a species of combat; at one time it
seems to prevail, for by understanding and by
feeling it tastes somewhat of the Infinite Light;
at other times it is overwhelmed, for when it has
tasted it faints."

It is true indeed that contest and strife
arising from the opposition presented by ex-
ternal things prevent us from finding pleasure
in those same things. For no man finds a
pleasure in the things against which he fights.
But he does find a pleasure, other things being
equal, in the actual attainment of a thing for
which he has striven; thus S. Augustine says^:
" The greater the danger in the battle, the
greater the joy in the triumph." And in con-
templation the strife and the combat do not
arise from any opposition on the part of the
truth which we contemplate, but from our de-
1 Horn. XIV.. On Ezechiel. ^ Ibid. ^ Conf., viii. 3.

Of the Contemplative Life 213

ficient understanding and from the corruptible
nature of our bodies which ever draw us down
to things beneath us : The corruptible body is a
load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation
presseth down the mind that museth upon many
things} Hence it is that when a man attains
to the contemplation of truth he loves it still
more ardently; but at the same time he more
than ever hates his own defects and the sluggish-
ness of his corruptible body, so that with the
Apostle he cries out : Unhappy man that I am !
Who shall deliver me from the body of this
death ?^ Hence, too, S. Gregory says : " When
God is known by our desires and our under-
standing. He causes all pleasures of the flesh
to wither up within us."^

3. But again, delight follows upon a perfect
work.^ But contemplation on this earth is im-
perfect, according to the words of the Apostle:
We see now through a glass in a dark manner?
Hence it would seem that the contemplative life
does not afford delight.

It is indeed true that the contemplation of
God during this life is imperfect compared
with our contemplation of Him in our eternal
home; and in the same way it is true that the
delights of contemplation here on earth are
imperfect compared with the delights of con-
templation in that home, of which latter joys

^ Wisd. ix. 15. - Rom. vii. 24.

3 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel. « Ethics, X., iv. 6.

^ I Cor. xiii. 12.

214 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the Psalmist says : Thou shall make them drink
of the torrent of Thy pleasure} Yet, none the
less, the contemplation of Divine things here
on earth is, although imperfect, far more
perfect than any other subject of contem-
plation howsoever perfect it may be, and this
by reason of the excellence of what we con-
template. Whence the Philosopher says^: " It
may indeed be the case that with regard to
such noble existences and Divine substances
we have to be content with insignificant
theories, yet even though we but barely touch
upon them, none the less so ennobling is such
knowledge that it affords us greater delight
than any other which is accessible to us."
Hence, too, S. Gregory says : " The contempla-
tive life has its most desirable sweetness which
uplifts the soul above itself, opens the way
to heavenly things, and makes spiritual things
plain to the eyes of the soul."

4. Lastly, bodily injuries are a hindrance to
delight. But contemplation is productive of bodily
injuries, for we read in Genesis^ that Jacob, after
saying / have seen God face to face, . . . halted on
his foot . . . because He touched the sinew of his
thigh and it shrank. Whence it would seem that
the contemplative life is not pleasurable.

But after that contemplation Jacob halted
on one foot because, as S. Gregory says, " it
must needs be that as the love of this world

* Ps. XXXV. 9. 2 De Partibus Animalium. i. 5.

3 xxxii. 30-32.

Of the Contemplative Life 215

grows weaker, so a man grows stronger in his
love of God," and consequently, "when once
we have known the sweetness of God, one
of our feet remains sound while the other
halts; for a man who halts with one foot
leans only on the one that is sound." ^

" Tu esto nostrum gaudium
Qui es futurus Praemium.
Sit nostra in Te gloria
Per cuncta semper saecula !"
* * * * *

S. Gregory : Between the delights of the body and
those of the heart there is ever this difference that
the delights of the body are wont, when we have
them not, to beget a keen yearning for them; but
when we have them and eat our fill, they straight-
way beget disgust for them, for we are sated there-
with. Spiritual joys, on the contrary, when we
have them not are a weariness, but when we have
them we desire them still more, and the more we
feed upon them the more we hunger after them.
In the case of the former, the yearning for them
was a pleasure, trial of them brought disgust.
In the case of the latter, in desire we held them
cheap, trial of them proved a source of pleasure.
For spiritual joys increase the soul's desire of them
even while they sate us, for the more their savour
is perceived, the more we know what it is we ought
eagerly to love. Whence it comes to pass that
when we have them not we cannot love them, for
their savour is unknown to us. For how can a
man love what he is ignorant of ? Wherefore the
Psalmist admonishes us, saying: O taste and see
1 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

2i6 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

that the Lord is sweet ! ^ As though he would say-
to us in plain terms : You know not His sweetness
if ye have never tasted it; touch, then, the Food
of Life with the palate of your soul that so, making
proof of Its sweetness, ye may be able to love It.

These joys man lost when he sinned in Paradise ;

he went out when he closed his mouth to the Food

of Eternal Sweetness. Whence we too, who are

born amidst the toils of this pilgrimage, come

without rehsh to this Food; we know not what

we ought to desire, and the sickness of our disgust

grows the more the further our souls keep away

from feeding upon that Sweetness; and less and

less does our soul desire those interior joys the

longer it has grown accustomed to do without them.

We sicken, then, by reason of our very disgust,

and we are wearied by the long-drawn sickness of

our hunger {Horn. XXXVI. , On the Gospels),

VIII

Is THE Contemplative Life lasting ?

The Lord said Mary hath chosen the best part
which shall not be taken away from her^ because, as
S. Gregory says : " Contemplation begins here below
that it may be perfected in our heavenly home."

A thing may be termed " lasting" in two ways:
from its very nature, or as far as we are concerned.
As far as its nature is concerned, the contemplative
life is lasting in two ways : for first of all it is con-
cerned with incorruptible and unchangeable things,

* Ps. xxxiii, 9. 2 s. Luke x. 42.

Of the Contemplative Life 217

I and in the second place there is nothing which is its
contrary: for, as Aristotle says^: "To the pleasure
which is derived from thought there is no contrary."

I And also as far as we are concerned the con-

i templative life is lasting; and this both because it
comes under the action of the incorruptible portion

I of our soul — namely, our intellect — and so can last
after this life ; and also because in the work of the
contemplative life there is no bodily toil, and we can
consequentl}'- apply ourselves more continuously to
such work, as also the Philosopher remarks .^

Some, however, argue that the contemplative
life is not lasting, thus :

1. The contemplative life essentially concerns
the intellect. But all the intellectual perfections
of this life will be made void, as we read : Whether
prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease,
or knowledge shall be destroyed?

But the fashion of contemplation here and
in our Father's home is not the same; and
the contemplative life is said "to last" by
reason of charity, which is both its principle
and its end; wherefore S. Gregory says: " The
contemplative life begins here below that it
may be perfected in our heavenly home, for
the fire of love which begins to burn here
below, when it sees Him Whom it loves, burns
yet more strongly with love of Him."

2. Again, men but taste the sweetness of con-
templation here, snatching at it, as it were, and
in passing: whence S. Augustine says: "Thou

* Topzcs, I., xiii. 5. 2 Ethics, l^.,wii. 2. ^ i Cor. xiii. 8,

2i8 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

introducest me to a most unwonted affection
within me, to an unspeakable sweetness; yet I fall
back again as though dragged down by a grievous
weight !"^ And S. Gregory, expounding those
words of Job, When a spirit passed before me, says :
" The mind does not long remain steadfastly
occupied with the sweetness of intimate contempla-
tion, for it is recalled to itself, stricken back by
the immensity of that Light." The contemplative
life, then, is not lasting.

It is true indeed that no action can remain
long at the pitch of its intensity. And the
goal of contemplation is to attain to the uni-
formity of Divine contemplation, as Denis
the Areopagite says.^ Hence, although in
this sense contemplation cannot last long,
yet it can last long as regards its other acts.

3. Lastly, what is not natural to a man cannot
be lasting. " But the contemplative Hfe," as the
Philosopher says, " is beyond man."^

But the Philosopher says that the contem-
plative hfe is " beyond man " in the sense that
it belongs to us according to what is Divine in
us — namely, our intellect; for our intellect is
incorruptible and impassible in itself, and
consequently its action can be more lasting.
*****
S. Augustine : This day sets before us the great
mystery of our eternal beatitude. For that life

1 Conf., X. 40.

2 Of the Divine Names, IV., i. 7 ; and Of the Heavenly
Hierarchy, iii. ^ Ethics, X., vii. 8.

Of the Contemplative Life 219

which this day signifies will not pass away as to-
day is to pass away. Wherefore, brethren, we
exhort and beseech you by the Name of our Lord
Jesus Christ by Whom our sins are forgiven, by
Him Who willed that His Blood should be our
ransom, by Him Who has deigned that we who
are not deserving to be called His slaves should yet
be called His brethren — we beseech you that your
entire aim, that which gives you your very name
of " Christian," and by reason of which you bear
His Name upon your foreheads and in your hearts,
may be directed solely to that life which we are
to share with the Angels; that life where is to be
unending repose, everlasting joy, unfailing happi-
ness, rest without disturbance, joy without sad-
ness, no death. What that life is none can know
save those who have made trial of it; and none
can make trial of it save those who have faith
{Sermon, CCLIX., On Low Sunday).

" And thou shalt say in that day : I will give thanks
to Thee, O Lord, for Thou wast angry with me : Thy
wrath is turned away, and Thou hast comforted me.
Behold, God is my Saviour. I will deal confidently,
and will not fear : because the Lord is my strength, and
my praise, and He is become my salvation. You shall
draw waters with joy out of the Saviour's fountains:
And you shall say in that day : Praise ye the Lord,
and call upon His Name : make His works known
among the people : remember that His Name is high.
Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath done great things:
shew this forth in all the earth. Rejoice, and praise,
O thou habitation of Sion : for great is He that is in
the midst of thee, the holy One of Israel. "^

^ Isa. xii. 1-6.

QUESTION CLXXXI

OF THE ACTIVE LIFE

PAGE

I. Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the

Active Life ? - - - - - 220

II. Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life ? - 223

III. Does Teaching belong to the Active or to the Con-

templative Life ? - - - - 226

IV. Does the Active Life continue after this Life ? - 229

I

Do ALL Acts of the Moral Virtues come under
THE Active Life ?

S. Isidore says^: " In the active life all the vices
are first of all to be removed by the practice of
good works, so that in the contemplative life a man
may, with now purified mental gaze, pass to the
contemplation of the Divine Light." But all the
vices can only be removed by the acts of the moral
virtues. Consequently the acts of the moral virtues
belong to the active life.

As we have said already ,2 the active and the con-
templative lives are distinguished by the different
occupations of men who are aiming at different
ends, one being the consideration of Truth — the
goal of the contemplative life; the other external

1 Of the Supreme Good, III., xv. 2 Q^^ CLXXIX. i.

220

Of the Active Life 221

works with which the active Ufe is occupied. But
it is clear that the moral virtues are not especially
concerned with the contemplation of truth but
with action; thus the Philosopher says^: " For
virtue, knowledge is of little or no avail." It is
therefore manifest that the moral virtues essentially
belong to the active life; and in accordance with
this the Philosopher 2 refers the moral virtues to
active happiness.

Some, however, maintain that all the acts of the
moral virtues do not belong to the active life, thus :

I . The active life seems to consist solely in those
things which have to do with our neighbour; for
S. Gregory says^ : " The active life means breaking
bread to the hungry;" and at the close, after
enumerating many things which have to do with
our neighbour, he adds: " And to provide for each
according as they have need." But not by all
the acts of the moral virtues are we brought into
contact with others, but only by justice and its
divisions. Consequently all the acts of the moral
virtues do not belong to the active life.

But the chief of the moral virtues is justice,
and by it a man is brought into contact with
his neighbour, as the Philosopher proves.*
We describe, then, the active life by those
things by means of which we are brought into
contact with our neighbour; yet we do not
thereby mean that the active life consists
solely in these things, but chiefly in them.

1 Ethics, II., iv. 3. 2 Ihid., X., viii. i.

3 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel. * Ethics, V., i. 15.

222 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

2. Again, S. Gregory says^: " By Lia, who was
blear-eyed but fruitful, is signified the active life
which sees less clearly, since occupied with works ;
but when, now by word, now by example, it arouses
its neighbour to imitation, it brings forth many
children in good works." But all this seems rather
to come under charity, by which we love our neigh-
bour, than under the moral virtues. Consequently
the acts of the moral virtues seem not to belong to
the active life.

But a man can, by acts of all the moral
virtues, lead his neighbour to good works by
his example ; and this S. Gregory here attributes
to the active life.

3. Lastly, the moral virtues dispose us to the
contemplative life. But disposition to a thing
and the perfect attainment of that thing come
under the same head. Consequently the moral
virtues do not belong to the active life.

But just as a virtue which is directed
towards the end of another virtue passes over,
in some sort, into the species of that latter
virtue, so also when a man uses those things
which belong to the active life precisely as
disposing him to contemplation, then those
things which he so uses are comprised under
the contemplative life. But for those who
devote themselves to the works of the moral
virtues as being good in themselves and not as
dispositive towards the contemplative life, the

* Horn, XIV., On Ezechiel.

Of the Active Life 223

moral virtues belong to the active life. Al-
though at the same time it might be said that
the active life is a disposition to the contem-
plative life.

" O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to
a man that hath peace in his possessions, to a man
that is at rest, and whose ways are prosperous in all
things, and that is yet able to take meat ! O death,
thy sentence is welcome to the man that is in need,
and to him whose strength faileth, who is in a
decrepit age, and that is in care about all things, and
to the distrustful that loseth patience ! Fear not
the sentence of death. Remember what things have
been before thee, and what shall come after thee:
this sentence is from the Lord upon all flesh. And
what shall come upon thee by the good pleasure of
the Most High whether ten, or a hundred, or a
thousand years." ^

II

Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life ?

The Philosopher says^ that prudence pertains to
active happiness, and to this pertain the moral
virtues.

As we have said above, when one thing is
directed towards the attainment of another thing
as its end, it — and this especially holds good in
morals — is, so to speak, drawn into the species of
that towards which it is thus directed, thus: " He
who commits adultery in order to steal " says the
Philosopher,^ " is rather a thief than an adulterer."

^ Ecclus. xli. 1-6. 2 Ethics., X., viii. 2.

3 Ibid., v., ii. 4.

224 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Now it is clear that that knowledge which is
prudence is directed to the acts of the moral virtues
as its end, for prudence is " the right mode of
procedure in our actions^;" hence, too, the ends of
the moral virtues are the principles of prudence,
as the Philosopher also says in the same work .2
In the same way, then, as we said above that in
the case of a man who directs them to the repose
of contemplation, the moral virtues pertain to the
contemplative life, so also the knowledge which is
prudence, and which is by its very nature directed
to the operations of the moral virtues, directly
pertains to the active life — that is, of course, on
the supposition that prudence is understood in
the strict sense in which the Philosopher speaks

of it.

If, however, prudence be understood in a broad
sense — namely, as embracing all kinds of human
knowledge — then prudence pertains, at least in
certain of its aspects, to the contemplative hfe;
thus Cicero says^: " The man who can see a truth
the most clearly and quickly, and explain the
reason of it, is rightly regarded as most prudent
and most wise."

But some maintain that prudence does not
pertain to the active life, thus :

I. Just as the contemplative life pertains to
the cognoscitive powers, so does the active life
pertain to the appetitive powers. But prudence
does not pertain to the appetitive powers but

Ethics, VI., V. 4. 2 Ibid., X., viii. 2.

3 De Officiis, I., v.

Of the Active Life 225

rather to the cognoscitive. Consequently it does
not pertain to the active Ufe.

But moral acts derive their character from
the end towards which they are directed;
consequently to the contemplative life belongs
that kind of knowledge which makes its end
consist in the very knowledge of truth. But
the knowledge which is prudence, and which
is rather directed to the acts of the appetitive
powers, pertains to the active life.

2. Again, S. Gregory says^ "The active life,
occupied as it is with works, sees less clearly," and
hence is typified by Lia, who was blear-eyed.
But prudence demands clear vision, so that a man
may judge what is to be done. Whence it would
seem that prudence does not pertain to the active
Hfe.

But occupation with external things only
makes a man see less clearly those intelligible
truths which are not connected with the
things of sense; the external occupations of
the active life, however, make a man see
more clearly in his judgment on a course of
action — and this is a question of prudence —
for he has experience, and his mind is atten-
tive: "When you are attentive," says Sallust,^
" then mental acumen avails."

3. Lastly, prudence comes midway betwixt the
moral and the intellectual virtues. But just as
the moral virtues pertain to the active life, so do

^ Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel. ^ Conjuratio CatilincB, li.

15

226 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the intellectual virtues pertain to the contempla-
tive. Hence it would seem that prudence belongs
neither to the active nor to the contemplative life,
but, as S. Augustine says, to a kind of life which is
betwixt and between.^

But prudence is said to come betwixt the
intellectual and the moral virtues in the sense
that, whereas it has the same subject as the
intellectual virtues, it yet coincides as regards
its object with the moral virtues. And that
third species of life comes betwixt and between
the active and the contemplative life as
regards the things with which it is concerned,
for at one time it is occupied with the con-
templation of truth, at another time with
external matters.

" For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge ?
and when He shall examine, what shall I answer
Him ? For I have always feared God as waves
swelling over me, and His weight I was not able to
bear."2

III

Does Teaching belong to the Active or to the
Contemplative Life ?

S. Gregory says^: " The active life means break-
ing bread to the hungry ; teaching words of wisdom
to them that know them not."

The act of teaching has a twofold object: for
teaching is by speaking, and speaking is the audible

* Of the City of God, xix. 2, 3, and 19.

2 Job xxxi. 14, 23. 2 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

Of the Active Life 227

sign of an interior mental concept. One object,
therefore, of our teaching is the matter to be taught,
the object, that is, of our interior concepts; and in
this sense teaching sometimes belongs to the active,
sometimes to the contemplative life. It belongs
to the active life if a man forms interiorly some
concept of a truth with a view to thus directing his
external acts ; but it belongs to the contemplative
life if a man interiorly conceives some intelligible
truth and delights in the thought of it and the
love of it. Whence S. Augustine says^: " Let
them choose for themselves the better part — that,
namely, of the contemplative life; let them devote
themselves to the Word of God; let them yearn
for the sweetness of teaching; let them occupy
themselves with the knowledge that leads to salva-
tion " — where he clearly says that teaching be-
longs to the contemplative life.

The second object of teaching arises from the
fact that teaching is given through the medium
of audible speech and thus the hearer himself is
the object of the teaching; and from this point of
view all teaching belongs to the active life to which
pertain all external actions.

Some, however, regard teaching as rather belong-
ing to the contemplative than to the active life,
thus:

I. S. Gregory says^: "Perfect men declare to
their brethren those good things of Heaven which
they themselves have been able to contemplate at

^ On the Words of the Lord, Sermon civ., alias xxvii. i.
2 Horn, v.. On Ezechiel.

228 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

least ' through a glass,' and they thus kindle in
their hearts the love of that hidden beauty." Yet
what is this but teaching ? To teach, therefore,
is an act of the contemplative life.

But S. Gregory expressly speaks here of
teaching from the point of view of the matter
that is presented — that is, of teaching as it is
concerned with the consideration of and love
of the truth.

2. Again, acts and habits seem to belong to the
same kind of life. But to teach is an act of wis-
dom, for the Philosopher says: "The proof that
a man knows is that he is able to teach. "^ Since,
then, wisdom — that is, knowledge — pertains to the
contemplative life, it would seem that teaching
also must pertain to the contemplative life.

But habits and acts agree in their object,
and consequently the argument just given is
based upon the material of the interior concept.
For the capacity for teaching is possessed by
a wise or learned man just in proportion as
he can express in outward words the concepts
of his mind and so be able to bring home
a truth to someone else.

3. Lastly, prayer is an act of the contemplative
life just in the same way as is contemplation itself.
But prayer, even when one man prays for another,
belongs to the contemplative life. Hence it would
seem that when one man brings to the knowledge

' Metaphysics, I., i. 9.

Of the Active Life 229

of another some truth upon which he has medi-
tated, such an act pertains to the contemplative
hfe.

But he who prays for another in no way
acts upon him for whom he prays; his acts
are directed towards God alone, the Intelli-
gible Truth. But he who teaches another
does act upon him by some external action.
Hence there is no parallel between the two
cases.

IV

Does the Active Life continue after this

Life ?

S. Gregory says^: " The active Hfe passes away
with this present world; the contemplative life
begins here so as to be perfected in our heavenly
home."

As already said, the active life makes its end con-
sist in external actions, and these, if they are
directed towards the repose of contemplation,
already belong to the contemplative hfe. But in
the future hfe of the blessed all occupation with
external things will cease; or if there are any ex-
ternal acts they will be directed towards that end
which is contemplation. Hence S. Augustine says,
at the close of his Of the City of God : "There we
shall be at rest from toil, we shall gaze, we shall
love, we shall praise." And he had just pre-
viously said: "There will God be seen unendingly,

1 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

230 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

be loved without wearying, be praised without
fatigue; this duty, this disposition of soul, this
act, will be the lot of all."^

Some, however, maintain that the active life
will be continued after this life, thus:

1 . To the active life belong the acts of the moral
virtues. But the moral virtues remain after death,
as S. Augustine says.^

But the acts of the moral virtues which are
concerned with the means to the end will not
remain after death, but only those which have
to do with the end itself. Yet it is precisely
these latter which go to form the repose of
contemplation to which S. Augustine alludes
in the above-quoted passage where he speaks
of being " at rest from toil "; and this " rest "
is not to be understood of freedom from
merely external disturbances, but also from
the internal conflict of the passions.

2. Again, to teach others pertains to the active
life. But in the next life — where we shall be as
the Angels — there can be teaching; for we see it
in the case of the Angels of whom one illumines,
clarifies, and perfects another, all of which refer
to their reception of knowledge, as is clear from
Denis the Areopagite.^ Hence it seems that the
active life is to be continued after this life.

But the contemplative life especially con-
sists in the contemplation of God; and as re-

* xxii. 30. 2 On the Trinity, xiv. 9.

^ Of the Heavenly Hierarchy, vii.

Of the Active Life 231

gards this no Angel teaches another, for it is
said of the Angels of the little ones'^ — Angels
who are of an inferior choir — that they always
see the face of the Father. And similarly in
the future hfe : there no man will teach another
about God, for we shall all see Him as He is?
And this agrees with the words of Jeremias^:
And they shall teach no more every man his
neighbour . . . saying: Know the Lord; for all
shall know Me from the least of them even to the
greatest.

But when it is question of dispensing the
mysteries of God, then one Angel can teach
another by clarifying, illumining, and perfect-
ing. And in this sense the Angels do in some
sort share in the active life as long as this
world lasts, for they are occupied with minis-
tering to the inferior creation. This is what
was signified by Jacob's vision of the Angels
ascending the ladder — whereby was meant
the contemplative life — and descending the
ladder — whereby was meant the active life.
At the same time, as S. Gregory says^: " Not
that they so went out from the Divine Vision
as to be deprived of the joys of contempla-
tion." And thus in their case the active life
is not distinguished from the contemplative
as it is in us who find the works of the active
life an impediment to the contemplative life.
Moreover, we are not promised a likeness to
the Angels in their work of administering to

^ S. Matt, xviii. lo. 2 j John iii. 2.

^ xxxi. 34, * Moralia in Job, ii. 2.

232 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the inferior creation, for this does not belong
to us according to our nature, as is the case
with the Angels, but according to our vision
of God

3. Lastly, the more durable a thing is the more
capable it seems of lasting after this life. But the
active life is more durable than the contemplative,
for S. Gregory says^: "We can remain steadfast
in the active life, but in nowise can we maintain
the mind's fixed gaze in the contemplative life."
Consequently the active life is much more capable
of continuing after death than is the contempla-
tive life.

But in our present state the durability of
the active hfe as compared with the contem-
plative life does not arise from any feature of
either of these kinds of life considered in
themselves, but from a defect on our part; for
we are dragged down from the heights of con-
templation by the body's burden. And thus
S. Gregory goes on to say that, " thrust back
bj'' its very weakness from those vast heights,
the soul relapses into itself."

" O bless our God, ye Gentiles : and make the voice
of His praise to be heard. Who hath set my soul to
live : and hath not suffered my feet to be moved. For
Thou, O God, hast proved us ; Thou hast tried us by
fire, as silver is tried. Thou hast brought us into a
net. Thou hast laid afflictions on our back; Thou
hast set men over our heads. We have passed
through fire and water, and Thou hast brought us out
into a refreshment." ^

1 Horn. v.. On Ezechiel. 2 pg, jxv. 8-12.

QUESTION CLXXXII

OF THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND
THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE

I'AGE

I. Is the Active Life preferable to the Contem-
plative ? - - - - - 233
Cardinal Cajetan, On Preparation for the Con-
templative Life - - - - 239
S. Augustine, Confessions , X., xliii. 70 - 239
On Psalm xxvi. - - - 240
II. Is the Active Life more Meritorious than the

Contemplative ? - - - - 240

III. Is the Active Life a Hindrance to the Contem-

plative Life ? - - - - 245

Cardinal Cajetan, On the True Interior Life - 247

S. Augustine, Sermon, CCLVL, v. 6 - - 248

IV. Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative ? 249

Is THE Active Life preferable to the
Contemplative ?

The Lord said : Mary hath chosen the best part,
which shall not be taken away from her} And by
Mary is signified the contemplative life, which is
consequently to be preferred to the active.

There is no reason why one thing should not be
in itself more excellent than another while yet this
latter is, for certain reasons, preferable to it.

* S. Luke X. 42.
233

234 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Absolutely speaking, then, the contemplative Ufe
is better than the active. And the Philosopher^
alleges eight proofs of this. Firstly, that the con-
templative life pertains to that which is best in a
man, namely his intellect and its proper objects,
i.e. intelligible truths, whereas the active life is
concerned with external things. Hence Rachel,
who typifies the contemplative life, is interpreted
as meaning " the Beginning seen " ; while Lia, who
was blear-eyed, typifies, according to S. Gregory,
the active life.^

Secondly, because the contemplative life can be
more continuous, even though we cannot maintain
our contemplation at its highest pitch ; thus Mary,
who is typical of the contemplative life, is depicted
as sitting ever at the Lord's feet.

Thirdly, because the delights of the contempla-
tive life surpass those of the active life; whence
S. Augustine says^: "Martha was troubled, but
Mary feasted."

Fourthly, because in the contemplative life a
man is more independent, since for this kind of
life he needs less ; whence we read : Martha, Martha,
thou art careful, and art troubled about many things.'^

Fifthly, because the contemplative life is loved
rather for its own sake, whereas the active life is
directed towards an end other than itself; whence
it is said in Ps. xxvi. 4: One thing I have asked of
the Lord, this will I seek after, that I may dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

* Ethics, X. 7 and 8. 2 Moralia in Job, vi. 18.
^ Of the Words of the Lord, Sermon ciii., alias xxvi. 2.

* S. Luke X. 41.

The Contemplative Life is the Higher 235

Sixthly, because the contemplative life consists
in a certain stillness and repose, as is said in
Ps. xlv. II : Be still, and see that I am God.

Seventhly, because the contemplative life is
occupied with Divine things whereas the active
life is occupied with human things; whence S.
Augustine says^: " In the beginning was the Word:
see What Mary heard ! The Word was made
Flesh; see to What Martha ministered !"

Eighthly, because the contemplative life pertains
to that which is more peculiar to man — namely,
his intellect — whereas in the works of the active
life our inferior powers — those, namely, which we
share with the brute creation — have a part;
whence, in Ps. xxxv. 7, after saying: Beasts and
men Thou wilt preserve, 0 Lord, the Psalmist adds
what belongs to men alone: In Thy light we shall
see light.

And the Lord Himself gives a ninth reason when
He says : Mary hath chosen the best part which shall
not be taken away from her,^ words which S. Augus-
tine thus expounds: " Not that thou, Martha, hast
chosen badly, but that Mary hath chosen better;
and see in what sense she hath chosen better:
because it shall not be taken away from her ; for from
thee shall one day be taken away the burden of
necessity; but eternal is the sweetness of truth. "^

But in a certain sense, and in certain cases, the
active life is to be chosen in preference to the con-
templative, and this by reason of the needs of this
present life; as also the Philosopher says: "To

^ Oj the Words of the Lord, Sermon civ., alias xxvii. 2.
2 S. Luke X. 42. ^ Sermon ciii., alias xxvi. 4.

236 On Prayer and the Gonfemplative Life

practise philosophy is better than to become rich;
but to become rich is better for one who suffers
need."i

Some, however, think that the active Hfe is pre-
ferable to the contemplative, thus :

I. "The lot which falls to the better people
seems to be the more honourable and better," as
the Philosopher says.^ But the active life is the
lot of those who are in the higher position — of pre-
lates, for instance, who are placed in honourable
and powerful positions; thus S. Augustine says^:
" In the life of action we must not love the honour
which belongs to this Hfe, nor its power." Whence
it would seem that the active life is preferable to
the contemplative.

But it is not the active life only which be-
longs to prelates, they must needs excel in
the contemplative life; whence S. Gregory
says in his Pastoral Rule"^: " Let the superior
be foremost in action, but before all let him
be uplifted in contemplation."

2. Again, in all acts and habits the control
belongs to the more important : the soldier, for in-
stance— as being higher placed — directs the saddle-
maker. But it is the active life which directs and
controls the contemplative, as is clear from the
words addressed to Moses : Go down and charge the
people, lest they should have a mind to pass the limits

^ Topica. III., ii. 21. 2 75^-^^ m ^ i j2.

' Of the City of God, xix. 19. * ii. i.

The Contemplative Life is the Higher 237

to see the Lord} The active life is therefore more
important than the contemplative.

But the contemplative life consists in a
certain liberty of spirit ; for S. Gregory says^:
" The contemplative life means passing over
to a certain liberty of spirit since in it a man
thinks not of temporal but of eternal things."
Similarly Boethius says^ : "The human soul
must needs be free when occupied with the
thought of the Divine Mind ; not so when dis-
tracted with the things of the body." From
all this it is clear that the active life does not
directly guide the contemplative, but by pre-
paring the way for it it does direct certain
works pertaining to the contemplative life,
and in this sense the active life is rather the
servant than the master of the contemplative.
And this S. Gregory expresses when he says:
" The active life is termed a service, the con-
templative life freedom."^

3. Lastly, no one should be withdrawn from
what is greater in order to apply himself to what is
less ; thus the Apostle says : Be zealous for the better
gifts. ^ But some are withdrawn from the con-
templative state of life and are made to busy
themselves with the affairs of the active life; this
is the case, for instance, with those who are placed
in positions of authority. Whence it seems that

^ Exod. xix. 21. 2 Horn. III., On Ezechiel.

^ Of Consolation, V. 2. * Horn. 111., On Ezechiel.

^ I Cor. xii. 31.

238 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

the active life is of more importance than the
contemplative.

But though a man may happen to be called
away from contemplation to the works of the
active life owing to the needs of the present
life, yet he is not thereby compelled com-
pletely to relinquish his contemplation. Hence
S. Augustine says -} " The love of truth asks for
a holy leisure ; the demands of charity undertake
honest toil — that, namely, of the active life.
And if no one imposes this latter burden on
us, then we must devote ourselves to the study
and contemplation of the truth; if, however,
such a burden is imposed upon us, then must
we undertake it because of the demands of
charity. Yet not even then are we alto-
gether to resign the joys flowing from the con-
templation of truth, lest the sweetness of such
contemplation be withdrawn from us and the
burden we have assumed crush us."

Whence it appears that when a man is called
from the contemplative to the active life it is
not so much that something is withdrawn from
him, but that an additional burden is imposed
upon him.

"As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city
of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God : God hath
founded it for ever. We have received Thy mercy,
O God, in the midst of Thy temple. For this is God,
our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever: He
shall rule us for evermore. "^

* Of the City of God, xix. 19. » pg. xlvii. 9, 10, 15.

The Contemplative Life is the Higher 239

Cajetan : Those whose duty it is to instruct others
in spiritual progress should note that they are
bound to take great pains to exercise them in the
active life before they urge them to ascend the
heights of contemplation. For they must learn to
subdue their passions by acquiring habits of meek-
ness, patience, generosity, humility, and tranquillity
of soul, before they ascend to the contemplative life.
Through lack of this, many, not so much walking
in the way of God as leaping along it, find them-
selves— after they have spent the greater portion
of their life in contemplation — devoid of virtue,
impatient, irascible, and proud, if one but so much
as touch them on this point ! Such people have
neither the active nor the contemplative life, nor
even a mixture of the two; they have built upon
sand I And would that such cases were rare I
(on 2. 2. 182. i).

4: 4: H: 4: H:

S. Augustine : Terrified by my sins and my
weight of misery I was disturbed within my soul
and meditated flight into solitude. But Thou
didst forbid it and didst strengthen me and say:
Christ died for all, that they also who live may not
now live to themselves , but unto Him Who died for
them and rose again} Behold, O Lord, I cast my
care upon Thee so that I may live, and I will
meditate on the wondrous things of Thy law. Thou
knowest my lack of skill and my weakness; teach
me and heal me ! He — Thine Only-Begotten Son
— in Whom lie hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge, He redeemed me with His blood. Let

^ 2 Cor. V. 15.

240 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

not the proud calumniate me ! When I think of my
Ransom then I eat and I drink, and I pray, and
in my poverty I yearn to be filled with Him, to be
among those who eat and are filled and they praise
the Lord who seek Him " {Con/., X., xliii. 70).

* « 4e * *

S. Augustine : He hath hid me in His tabernacle
in the day of evils }

Wherefore without any arrogance have I sought
for That One Thing, neither doth my soul reproach
me, saying: Why do you seek after It? From
whom do you seek It ? Do you, a sinner, wickedly
dare to ask something of God ? Do you, weak
man, of unclean heart, dare to hope that you will
one day attain to the contemplation of God ? I
dare ! Not indeed of myself, but because of His
pleasure in me; not out of presumptuous trust in
myself, but from confidence in His promise. For
will He Who gave such a pledge to the pilgrim
desert him when he comes to Him ? For He hath
hid me in His tabernacle in the day of evils {Enarr.
in Ps. xxvi.).

II

Is THE Active Life more Meritorious than the

Contemplative ?

S. Gregory says^: " Great are the merits of the
active life, but they are surpassed by those of the
contemplative life."

The source of merit is charity. Charity, how-
ever, consists in the love of God and of our neigh-

^ Ps. xxvi. 5, 2 M or alia in Job, vi. 18.

The Contemplative Life is the Higher 241

hour; and to love God is, in itself, more meritorious
than to love our neighbour. Consequently that
which more directly pertains to the love of God is
more meritorious in its nature than something that
directly pertains to the love of our neighbour for
God's sake. The contemplative life, however,
directly and immediately pertains to the love of
God, as S. Augustine says^: "The love of truth
asks for a holy leisure; that is the contemplative
life," and this truth is the Divine Truth on Which
the contemplative life is centred. The active life,
on the other hand, is more immediately concerned
with the love of our neighbour, it is busy about much
serving.'^ Hence of its very nature the contempla-
tive life is more meritorious than the active, as is
well expressed by S. Gregory^ when he says : " The
contemplative life is more meritorious than the
active, for the latter toils in the wear and tear of
present work by which it must needs help its
neighbour; whereas the former, by a certain inward
savour, already has a foretaste of the repose to
come " — that is, in the contemplation of God.

It may, however, chance that one man derives
greater merit from the works of the active life than
another does from his contemplative life; as, for
example, when, from the superabundance of the
Divine love, in order to fulfil God's will, and for
His greater glory, a man is content to be separated
for a space from the sweetness of Divine contem-
plation, as the Apostle says: / wished myself to be
an anathem^a from Christ for my brethren!^ On

^ Of the City of God, xix. 19. - S. Luke x. 40.

3 Horn. III., On Ezecjiiel. * Rom. ix. 3.

16

242 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

these words S. Chrysostom^ comments thus: " The
love of Christ had so completely taken possession
of his heart that he could even despise that which
he desired beyond all things — namely, to be with
Christ — and that because it was pleasing to Christ."

Yet some maintain that the active life is more
meritorious than the contemplative, thus :

1. A thing is said to be meritorious because of
the reward. But reward is due to work, as S. Paul
says : And every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labour? Labour, however,
belongs to the active life, repose to the contempla-
tive, as S. Gregory says^: " Everyone who is con-
verted to God must needs first labour in toil; he
must take Lia — that is, that so he may arrive at
' the vision of the Beginning ' — that is, the embraces
of Rachel." Whence it seems as though the active
life was more meritorious than the contemplative.

But while external toil makes for an increase
of accidental reward, the increase of merit as
regards essential reward consists mainly in
charity, one proof of which is external toil
undertaken for Christ's sake; but a much
greater proof of this is given when a man puts
aside all that pertains to this life and delights
in giving himself up solely to Divine contem-
plation.

2. Again, contemplative life is in some sort the
commencement of future bliss; and consequently

* 0/ Compunction, i. 7. ^ i Cor. iii. 8.

3 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

The Contemplative Life is the Higher 243

on the words of S. John: So will I have him
to remain till I come, S. Augustine comments as
follows: "This might be more fully expressed
thus: May perfect actions, modelled on the ex-
ample of My Passion, follow Me ; but may contem-
plation begun here on earth remain till I come,
to be perfected when I come "^; and similarly
S. Gregory says 2; "The contemplative life begins
here below to be perfected in our heavenly home."
But in that future life we shall not merit, but shall
receive the reward of our merits. Consequently
the contemplative life seems to have less of the
ratio of merit than has the active life ; but it has
more of the ratio of reward.

But in the state of future bliss a man has
arrived at his perfection and consequently
there is no room left for merit ; but if there were
room left his merits would be more efficacious
owing to the pre-eminence of his charity. The
contemplation of this present life, however,
has some accompanying imperfection, and con-
sequently there is room for improvement;
hence such contemplation does not destroy the
idea of meriting but makes increase of merit in
proportion as Divine charity is more and more
exercised.

. 3. Lastly, S. Gregory says^: "No sacrifice is
more acceptable to God than zeal for souls." But
zeal for souls means that a man gives himself up
to the works of the active life. Whence it seems

^ Tractat., 124, On Si. John, xxi. 22.

2 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel. ^ Horn. XII., On Ezechiel.

244 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

that the contemplative Ufe is not more meritorious
than the active.

But a sacrifice is spiritually offered to God
when anything is presented to Him ; and of all
man's good things God specially accepts that
of the human soul when offered to Him in
sacrifice. But a man ought to offer to God
first of all his own soul, according to the words
of Ecclesiasticus^ : Have pity on thine own soul,
pleasing God; secondly, the souls of others,
according to the words : And he that heareth let
him say : Come.^ But the more closely a man
knits his own soul, or his neighbour's soul, to
God, the more acceptable to God is his sacri-
fice; consequently it is more pleasing to God
that a man should give his soul, and the souls
of others, to contemplation than to action.
When, then, S. Gregory says : " No sacrifice
is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls,"
he does not mean that the merit of the active
hfe is greater than that of the contemplative,
but that it is more meritorious that a man
should offer to God his own soul and the soul
of others than that he should offer any other
external gift whatsoever.

" But thou, our God, art gracious and true, patient,
and ordering all things in mercy. For if we sin, we
are Thine, knowing Thy greatness : and if we sin not,
we know that we are counted with Thee. For to loiow
Thee is perfect justice : and to know Thy justice, and
Thy power, is the root of immortality."^

^ XXX. 24. 2 Apoc. xxii. 17.

^ Wisd. XV. 1-3.

Action no Hindrance to Contemplation 245

III

Is THE Active Life a Hindrance to the
Contemplative Life ?

S. Gregory says^: "They who would hold the
citadel of contemplation must first needs exercise
themselves on the battle-field of toil."

We may consider the active life from two points
of view. For we may first of all consider the
actual occupation with, and practice of, external
works ; and from this point of view it is clear that
the active life is a hindrance to the contemplative,
for it is impossible for a man to be simultaneously
occupied with external works, and yet at leisure for
Divine contemplation.

But we may also consider the active life from
the standpoint of the harmony and order which it
introduces into the interior passions of the soul;
and from this point of view the active life is an
assistance to contemplation since this latter is
hindered by the disturbance arising from the
passions. Thus S. Gregory says^: "They who
would hold the citadel of contemplation must first
needs exercise themselves on the battle-field of
toil; they must learn, forsooth, whether they still
do harm to their neighbours, whether they bear
with equanimity the harm their neighbours may
do them ; whether, when temporal good things
are set before them, their minds are overwhelmed
with joy; whether when such things are withdrawn

^ M or alia in Job, vi. 17. 2 Jbid,

246 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

they are over much grieved. And lastly, they
must ask themselves whether, when they withdraw
within upon themselves and search into the things
of the spirit, they do not carry with them the
shadows of things corporeal, or whether, if per-
chance they have touched upon them, they dis-
creetly repel them."

Thus, then, the exercises of the active life are
conducive to contemplation, for they still those
interior passions whence arise those imaginations
which serve as a hindrance to contemplation.

Some, however, maintain that the active life is
a hindrance to the contemplative, thus :

1 . A certain stillness of mind is needful for con-
templation, as the Psalmist says: Be still and see
that I am God} But the active hfe implies anxiety :
Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled
about many things?

2. Again, a certain clearness of vision is called
for in the contemplative life. But the active life
hinders this clearness of vision, for S. Gregory
says^: " Lia was blear-eyed and fruitful, for the
active life, since occupied with toil, sees less
clearly."

3. And lastly, things that are contrary hinder
one another. But the active and the contempla-
tive life are contrary to one another ; for the active
life is occupied with many things, whereas the
contemplative life dwells upon one object of con-
templation; they are, then, in opposite camps.

^ Ps. xlv. II. 2 S. Luke x. 41.

3 Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

Action no Hindrance to Contemplation 247

But all these arguments insist upon the
occupation with external affairs which is but
one feature in the active life, not upon its
other feature — namely, its power to repress
the passions.

*l* I* H* *p 'V

Cajetan : But the five foolish virgins, having taken
their lamps, did not take oil with them. But the wise
took oil in their vessels with the lamps}

By this oil is signified testimony to a man's
goodness or love of God. For there is this differ-
ence between people who perform good works,
that the only testimony which some men have to
their goodness is without — namely, in the works
themselves ; within, however, they do not feel that
they love God with their whole heart, that they
repent of their sins because they are hateful to
God, or that they love their neighbour for God's
sake. But there are others who so perform good
works that both their works that shine before men
bear witness without to the good soul within, and
also within their own conscience the Holy Spirit
Himself testifies to their spirit that they are the
sons of God ; for such men feel that they love God
with their whole heart, that they repent of their
sins for God's sake, and that they love their neigh-
bour and themselves for God's sake: in brief, they
feel that God is the sole reason why they love,
why they hope, fear, rejoice, or are sad : in a word,
why they work both within and without : this is to
have oil in one's own vessels {On S. Matt. xxv. 3,4).

^ S, Matt. xxv. 3, 4.

248 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

S. Augustine : See the life that Mary chose !
Yet was she but a type of that hfe, she as yet
possessed it not. For there are two kinds of hfe :
one means dehght; the other means a burden.
And the burdensome one is toilsome, while the
delightsome one is pleasurable. But enter thou
within ; seek not that delight without, lest ye swell
with it and find yourself unable to enter by the
narrow gate 1 See how Mary saw the Lord in the
Flesh and heard the Lord by the voice of the Flesh
— as ye have heard when the Epistle to the Hebrews
has been read — as it were through a veil. {A new
and living way which He hath dedicated to us through
the veil, that is to say, His Flesh}) But when we
shall see Him face to Face there will be no " veil."
Mary, then, sat — that is, she rested from toil — and
she listened and she praised; but Martha was
anxious about much serving. And the Lord said
to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful and art
troubled about many things ; but one thing is neces-
sary'^ {Sermon, CCLVL, v. 6).

" Bless the Lord, O my soul : and let all that is
within me bless His holy Name. Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and never forget all He hath done for thee.
Who forgiveth all thy iniquities : Who healeth all thy
diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction :
Who crowncth thee with mercy and compassion.
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things : thy youth
shall be renewed like the eagle's. The Lord doth
mercies, and judgment for all that suffer wrong.
He hath made His ways known to Moses : His wills to
the children of Israel. The Lord is compassionate
and merciful : long suffering and plenteous in mercy.

* Heb. X. 20. 2 S. Luke x. 41, 42.

Action no Hindrance to Contemplation 249

He will not always be angry : nor will He threaten for
ever. He hath not dealt with us according to our
sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For according to the height of the Heaven above the
earth ; He hath strengthened His mercy towards them
that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath He removed our iniquities from us. As
a father hath compassion on his children, so hath
the Lord compassion on them that fear Him : for He
knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are
dust: man's days are as grass, as the flower of the
field so shall he flourish. "^

IV

Does the Active Life precede the
Contemplative ?

S. Gregory says^: "The active life precedes the
contemplative in the order of time, for from good
works a man passes to contemplation."

One thing may precede another in two ways :
firstly by its very nature; and in this sense the
contemplative life precedes the active in that it
is occupied \vith chiefer and better things, and hence
it both moves and directs the active life. For, as
S. Augustine says,^ the higher reason, which is
destined for contemplation, is compared to the
lower reason, which is destined for action, as man
is compared to woman — she is to be governed by
him.

But secondly, one thing may be prior to another
as far as we are concerned, it may, that is, precede

^ Ps. cii. 1-15. ^ Horn. III., On Ezechiel.

^ On the Trinity, xii. 12.

250 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

it in the way of generation. And in this sense the
active hfe precedes the contemplative, for it con-
duces to it, as we have aheady said. In the order
of generation disposition to a nature precedes that
nature, though that nature is, simply speaking and
considered in itself, prior to the disposition to it.

But some maintain that the active life does not
precede the contemplative, thus :

1. The contemplative life is directly concerned
with the love of God, the active Hfe with the love
of our neighbour. But love of God precedes love
of our neighbour, for we have to love our neigh-
bour for God's sake.

But the contemplative Hfe is not con-
cerned with merely any kind of love of God,
but with the perfect love of Him; the active
Hfe, on the contrary, is necessary for any kind
of love of our neighbour, for S. Gregory says^:
" Without the contemplative life men can gain
admittance to their heavenly home if they
have not neglected the good works they could
have done; but they cannot enter without the
active life, if they neglect the good works they
could do." Whence it appears that the active
life precedes the contemplative in the sense
that that which is common to everybody pre-
cedes in the order of generation that which
is peculiar to the perfect.

2. Again, S. Gregory says 2; "You must know
that just as the right procedure is for a man to

1 Horn. III., On Ezechiel. ^ Horn. XIV., On Ezechiel.

Active Precedes Contemplative Life 251

pass from the active to the contemplative life; so,
too, it is often profitable to the soul to return to
the active life." Consequently the active life is
not absolutely speaking prior to the contemplative.

But while we proceed from the active life
to the contemplative by way of generation,
we return from the contemplative to the active
by way of direction, in order, that is, that
our active life may be directed by the con-
templative; just in the same way as habits
are generated by acts and then, as is said in
the Ethics, when the habit is formed we act
still more perfectly.^

3. Lastly, things which accord with different
characters do not seem to be necessarily related.
But the active and contemplative life are suited
to different characters; thus S. Gregory says^: " It
often happens that men who could have given
themselves to peaceful contemplation of God have
been burdened with external occupations and so
have made shipwreck; while, on the contrary, men
who could have lived well had they been occupied
with human concerns, have been slain by the sword
of their life of repose." Consequently the active
life does not seem to precede the contemplative.

But those who are subject to the influx of
their passions because of their natural eager-
ness in action, are for that very reason more
suited for the active life, and this because of
the restlessness of their temperament. Hence

^ ii. I, 2. 2 Moralia in Job, vi. 17.

252 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

S. Gregory says^: "Some are so restless that
if they desist from work they suffer grievously,
for the more free they are to think the worse
interior tumults they have to endure." Some,
on the contrary, have a natural purity of soul
and a reposefulness which renders them fit for
the contemplative Hfe; if such men were to
be applied wholly to the active life they would
incur great loss. Hence S. Gregory says^:
" Some men are of so slothful a disposition
that if they undertake any work they succumb
at the very outset." But he adds : " Yet often
love stirs up even slothful souls to work, and
fear exercises a restraining influence on souls
which suffer a disturbing influence in their con-
templation." Hence even those who are more
suited for the active life, may, by the exercise
of it, be prepared for the contemplative; and,
on the contrary, those who are more suited
for the contemplative life may profitably
undertake the labours proper to the active life,
that so they may be rendered still more fit for
contemplation.

" I have cried to Thee; for Thou, O God, hast heard
me: O incline Thy ear unto me, and hear my words.
Show forth Thy wonderful mercies; Thou Who
savest them that trust in Thee. From them that
resist Thy right hand keep me, as the apple of Thy
eye. Protect me under the shadow of Thy wings. "^

^ Moralia, vi. 17. 2 /i,j^._ vi. 37.

^ Ps. xvi. 6-9.

QUESTION CLXXXVI

ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE

PAGE

Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders ? 253

Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active

Orders ?

The Lord declared that Mary's was the best part,
and she is the type of the contemplative life.^

Religious Orders differ from one another primarily
according to the ends they have in view, but
secondarily according to the works they practise.
And since one thing cannot be said to be superior
to another save by reason of the differences between
them, it will follow that the superiority of one
Religious Order to another must depend primarily
upon their respective ends, secondarily upon the
works they practise.

And these two grounds of comparison are not of
equal value; for the comparison between them
from the point of view of their respective ends is
an absolute one, since an end is sought for its own
sake; whereas the comparison arising from their
respective works is a relative one, since works are

^ S. Luke X, 42.
253

254 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

not done for their own sake but for the sake of the
end to be gained.

Consequently one Religious Order is superior to
another if its end is absolutely a superior one,
either as being in itself a greater good, or as being
of wider scope. On the supposition, however, that
the ends of any two Orders are the same, then the
superiority of one to the other can be gauged, not
by the quantity of works they undertake, but by
the proportion these bear to the end in view.
Thus it is that we find introduced into the Con-
ferences of the Fathers^ the opinion of S. Antony,
who preferred that discretion by which a man
moderates all things to fasts and watchings and
similar observances.

The works, then, of the active life are twofold.
There is one which springs from the fulness of
contemplation: teaching, for example, and preach-
ing. Whence S. Gregory says^: "It is said of
perfect men that on their return from contempla-
tion : They shall pour forth the memory of Thy sweet-
ness.^^ And this is preferable to simple contem-
plation. For just as it is a greater thing to shed
light than to be full of light, so is it a greater thing
to spread abroad the fruits of our contemplation
than merely to contemplate. And the second
work of the active life is that which wholly consists
in external occupation, such as giving alms, re-
ceiving guests, etc. And such works are inferior
to the works of contemplation, except it be in
some case of necessity.

^ Conf., ii. 2. 2 Horn. V., On Ezechiel.

On the Religious State 255

Consequently, then, those ReHgious Orders are
in the highest rank which are devoted to teaching
and preaching. And these, too, approach most
nearly to the perfection of the Episcopate; just as
in other things, too, the ends of those in the first
place are, as S. Denis says, close knit to the prin-
ciples of those in the second place .^ The second
rank is occupied by those Orders which are de-
voted to contemplation. And the third with those
devoted to external works.

And in each of these grades there is a certain
superiority according as one Order aims at acts of
a higher order than does another, though of the
same class. Thus in the works of the active life
it is a greater thing to redeem captives than to
receive guests; in the contemplative life, too, it is
a greater thing to pray than to study. There may
also be a certain superiority in this that one is
occupied with more of such works than another;
or again, that the rules of one are better adapted
to the attainment of their end than are those of
another.

Some, however, maintain that the contemplative
Orders are not superior to the active Orders, thus :

I. In the Canon Law^ it is said: "Since the
greater good is to be preferred to the less, so, too,
the common gain is to be preferred to private gain ;
and in this sense teaching is rightly preferred to
silence, anxious care for others to contemplation,

^ Of the Divine Names, vii.

2 Extrav. Of Regulars and of those who pass to the Religious
Orders, cap. Licet.

256 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

and toil to repose." But that Religious Order is
the better which is directed to the attainment of
the greater good. Hence it seems that Orders
which are devoted to an active life are superior
to those which aim solely at contemplation.

But this Decretal speaks of the active life
as concerned with the salvation of souls.

2. All Religious Orders aim at the perfection of
charity. But on those words in the Epistle to
the Hebrews/ Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,
the Gloss has : ' ' There is no more perfect charity
in this life than that to which the holy Martyrs
attained, for they strove against sin even unto
blood." But to strive unto blood belongs to the
Military Religious Orders, and they lead an active
life. It would seem, then, that these latter are
the highest form of Religious Order.

But these Military Orders are more con-
cerned with shedding the blood of their enemies
than with shedding their own, which is the
feature of the Martyrs. At the same time,
there is nothing to preclude these Religious
from at times winning the crown of martyrdom
and thus attaining to a greater height than
other Religious; just as in some cases active
works are to be preferred to contemplation.

3. Lastly, the stricter an Order the more perfect
it seems to be. But there is nothing to preclude
active Orders from being stricter in their observ-
ance than some contemplative Orders.

* xii. 4.

On the Religious State 257

But strictness of observance is not that
which is especially commendable in Religious
life, as S. Antony has already told us, and as is
also said in Isaias^ : Is this such a fast as I have
chosen, for a man to afflict his soul for a day ?
Strictness of observance is, however, made use
of in Religious Orders for the subjection of
the flesh; but if such strictness is carried out
without discretion there is danger lest it should
come to naught, as S. Antony says. Hence
one Religious Order is not superior to another
because its observances are stricter, but be-
cause its observances are directed to the end
of that Order with greater discretion. Thus,
for example, abstinence from food and drink,
which means hunger and thirst, are more effi-
cacious means for preserving chastity than
wearing less clothing, which means cold and
nakedness; more efficacious, too, than bodily
labour.

^ Iviii. 5.

17

INDEX

Abiding in Christ, 32

Abraham in Limbo, 155

Accidents of the Holy Euchar-
ist, 9

Active Life, the: its meaning,
170, 174, 176, 221, 229;
typified in Jacob's Vision,
231 ; typified by Lia, 174, 222,
225, 234, 242, 246; two fea-
tures of the Active Life, E21,
241, 247; in what sense it is
distinct from the Contempla-
tive Life, 220; how less meri-
torious than the Contempla-
tive Life, 240-244; not pre-
ferable to the Contemplative
Life, 233-240; it involves less
sacrifice than the Contempla-
tive Life, 244; in what sense
it precedes the Contemplative
Life, 223, 237, 245, 249-252;
how far it is necessary, 186,
221, 239, 245, 250; contrasted
with the Contemplative Life,
172, 173; how far it is more
stable than the Contemplative
Life, 232; its dangers, 136,
147, 186; it is a burden super-
imposed upon the Contempla-
tive Life, 238; all are not
meant for it, 186, 251, 252; it
will not persist after this life,
229-232; the Active Life of
the Angels, 231 ; how far the
Active Life is inferior to the
Contemplative, 233-240; oc-
casions when it must be em-
braced, 186, 235, 239; the
part which the Moral Virtues
play in it, 191, 220-223; it is
a preparation for the Con-
templative Life, 176, 177, 220,

^58

237, 245 ; prudence is requisite
for it, 186, 223-226; how far
the teaching life pertains to the
Active Life, 226-229, 230; it
will pass away, 177, 191, 229-
232; it is the Purgative way,
220; Prelates and the Active
Life, 236

Active Religious Orders, they
are inferior to the Contem-
plative, 253-257

Adjure God, in what sense we
are said to do so in our
prayers, 148

Adoration of the Cross, 37

Adoro Te Devote, the rhythm of
St. Thomas in honour of the
Holy Eucharist, 112

Albert of Brescia, O.P., 18

Albert the Great, Blessed, 6

Alypius, St. Augustine's friend,
123

Ambrose, St. : on God as the
cause of devotion, 57; that
the beauty of the soul depends
on the Moral Virtues, 1 84

Andronicus on the meaning of
sanctity, 49

Angels, the: how they are dif-
ferentiated from men, 113,
114, 187, 206; the knowledge
of the Angels, 157, 187, 205,
208, 230; the Beatific Vision
of the Angels, 231 ; the intelli-
gence of the Angels, 187, 230;
the intercession of the Angels,
165; their conformity to the
will of God, 165, 167; the
Angelic Hierarchies, 201, 230;
the teaching of the Angels,
230, 231; the Active Life of
the Angels, 231; we shall be

Index

259

like to the Angels, how, 230,
231 ; Angels gird St. Thomas, 6

Anselm of Laudun, 25

Antony, St. : a patron against
Hell-fire, 160; on discretion,

154, 157

Areopagite. Cf. s.v. Denis the
Areopagite

Aristotle: on the aptitude for
virtue, 35; on honour, 39;
that the perfection of the
moral virtues lies in their
mean, 43 ; on Justice, 55, 221 ;
that " reason asks for the
best things," 69; on the need
of temporal things, 89; that
" each man's life is that which
he would wish to share with
his friend," 170; that "to
live is to be," 170; on action
and contemplation as distinc
tions in the intellectual life,
171; that life is primarily in
the vegetative soul, 171; on
three kinds of lives, 175; that
knowledge has little to do
with the moral virtues, 182,
221; that every act of the
intellect may be termed " con-
sideration," 188; that the
ultimate happiness of man
consists in the contemplation
of the highest truth, 193; of
man's dependence on the
imagination, 201 ; that motion
is the act of a perfect thing,
203; on local motion as the
chief of bodily motions, 204;
that delight follows upon a
perfect work, 213; on the
nobility of science, 214; that
there is no pleasure contrary
to that derived from thought,
217; on application to the
Contemplative Life, 217; that
the Contemplative Life is
"beyond man," 218; that
prudence pertains to active
happiness, 223; that he who
commits adultery to steal is
more a thief than an adulterer,
223; that prudence is the
right mode of procedure in

our actions, 224; that the
ends of the moral virtues are
the principles of prudence,
224; that the proof of the
possession of wisdom is the
power to teach, 228; eight
proofs that the Contemplative
Life is superior to the Active,
234, 235; on the better lot,
236; that habits produce per-
fect acts, 251

Arius, his error regarding the
Person of Christ, 161

Athanasius, St., on the chanting
of the Psalms, 123

Attention: mental, 225; in
prayer, 125-133; three kinds
of, 128, 129, 133

Attitudes in prayer, 1 50, 151

Augustine, St.: St. Thomas's
kinship with him in doctrine,
17-19; they are seen in a
vision together, 1 8 ; the Brevi-
ary Hymn to, 26; definition
of religion, 28, 29, 30; on
Latvia, 30 ; on Eusebeia, 3 1 ;
on abiding in Christ, 32; on
the desire of God, 32; on
prayer for wealth, 33; on
sacrifice, 32, 46; of true wor-
ship, 40; of idolatry, 46; on
the value of external acts in
prayer, 46; of virginity, 50;
on " God alone," 54, 92, 108,
142, 197, 189, 203, 219; on the
will and the understanding,
57; on true grief, 65; prayer
defined, 69; why we should
pray, 75; on the prayers of
the Church, 76; when we pray
we are God's beggars, 79, 1 10 ;
of those who say " He knows
already ; why then pray ?" 80 ;
of the knowledge the dead
have of our affairs, 82; on
shrinking from death, 83; on
avoidance of Hell, 86; of the
Beatific Vision, 87, 229; a
prayer for continence, 87 ; and
for the knowledge of Holy
Scripture, 88; it is lawful to
pray for what it is lawful to
desire, 89; on prayer for

26o On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

"sufficiency of life," 89; on
" seeking first the Kingdom
of God," 90 ; on prayer " with-
out ceasing," 91 ; of the
prayer of desire, 92, 134; his
prayer for deliverance from
toothache, 92; why temporal
favours are sometimes not
granted, 94. 95 ; on prayer for
others, 96; that we cannot
here distinguish between the
predestinate and the repro-
bate, 97 ; on the imprecations
in Holy Scripture, 100, 10 1;
on prayer for the wicked, 10 1 ;
on the Lord's Prayer, that it
is the most perfect form of
prayer, 102; on "our Daily
Bread," 103, 109; "hallowed
be Thy Name," 104; "Thy
kingdom come," 105; "Thy
will be done," 105; "forgive
us our trespasses," no, in;
of the Lord's Prayer and the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, 106;
of the two versions of the
Lord's Prayer in St. Matthew
and St. Luke, 107; on true
righteousness, in; on ex-
terior religion, 119; on the
chanting of the Psalter, 123;
on the prayer of the heart,
124; on distractions, 129-131;
on prayer at definite times,
134; on the brief prayers of
the hermits of old, 134; on
" much speaking " in prayer,
135; that God urges us to
pray, 138, 139; that prayer is
a gift of God, 1 39 ; on unheard
prayers, 140, 142; on prayers
heard in anger, 142, 143; in
what sense the prayers of
sinners are heard, 143, 144;
on the attitudes to be adopted
in and of the time and place
for prayer, 127, 150, 151; of
the knowledge of the Saints
in Limbo, 154-156; why the
prayers of the Saints are
heard, 167; the Contempla-
tive contrasted with the Ac-
tive Life, 172-174, 186; the

three "lives," 175, 185; the
"mixed" life, 226; of the
final possession and vision of
God, 176, 177, 191, 203; on
the use of leisure, 186; the
claims of the two lives, the
Active and the Contempla-
tive, 186, 248; of the Active
Life, 236; of the Active Life
as opposed to the Contempla-
tive, 238; that every opera-
tion of the intellect may be
termed "thought," 188; of
the derivation of the term
"speculation," 189; of our
present perfection, 190, 191;
on the pleasures of sense, 185 ;
that the contemplation of God
is the goal of all our acts, 193 ;
that we must use created
things as stepping-stones to
the things that abide for ever,
193; on Mary's " better part,"
1 96, 1 97 ; on Martha and
Mary, 234, 235, 248; that in
contemplation we do not see
God Himself, 199; the greater
the danger in the battle, the
greater the joj^ in the triumph,
212; on the transitory nature
of our present contemplation,
218; on the beauty of the
teaching life, 227; how the
moral virtues remain after
death, 230; of the repose of
Contemplation, 230, 241; of
his desire for solitude, yet he
feels that he must work for
others, 239; he dare hope for
the Contemplative Life, 240;
of the higher reason, 249

Basil, St.: on distractions, 127,

128; on unheard prayers, 141
Beatific Vision, the, 87, 1 53, 172,

176, 177. 180, 181, 193, 198-

203, 217
Beatitude, in what it consists,

172, 176, 177, 181, 191, 198,

218, 219, 229
Beatitude, a prayer for, 192
Beauty, definition of, 185
Benedict, St., the vision of, 202

Index

261

Bernard, St. : on the meaning of
contemplation, 188, 189; of
the steps in contemplation,
194
Bestial Life, the, 175
Birds, the movements of, 209
Blood of Christ, the, 163
Boethius, on the liberty needful
for contemplation, 237

Cajetan, O.P., Cardinal, 19, 20;
on the meaning of Religion,
50 ; on the meaning of devo-
tion, 53, 54; on its causes, 60;
on devotion as opposed to
gloom, 64; of the "devout
female sex," 62; of the need
of meditation, 61 ; of prayer
as the cause of union with
God, 71; of prayer as a real
cause, 74; on three points to
be considered in prayer, 78;
on prayer as a sacrifice, 79;
of the divisions of the Lord's
Prayer, 107, 108; how those
in Limbo can hear prayers,
118; on vocal prayer, 121,
123; on the tone to be em-
ployed in saying Mass, 122;
the function of ecclesiastical
chant, 122, 124; on attention
in recitation of Divine Office,
128 ; on attention to the words
of Consecration, 149, 150; of
the need of tiie moral virtues
in the Contemplative Life,
239; the Parable of the Ten
Virgins, 247; on the real
object of prayer, 129
Canticle of Canticles, the, 14
Cassian, the Conferences of : on
St. Antony and discretion,
254, 257; on different kinds of
prayer, 148
Cassiodorus on Ps. xxxviii. 13,

68
Cato on respect for parents, 30
Ceremonial, the value of, 35
Chant of the Church, the Public,

122, 123
Charity as the principle of re-
ligion, 56. C/. s.v. Theologi-
cal virtues

" Christ, pray for us," why we
do not say, 160, 161

Christ, the Name of, on the fore-
heads of Christians, 219

Chrysostom, St.: the Opus Im-
perfectitni in Matthceum falsely
attributed to him, 24; on
prayer as a conversation with
God, 74; on prayer for others,
95 ; in public, 121 ; on prayer
for sinners, 143; on prayer
through Jesus Christ, 145; on
the zeal of S. Paul, 242

Church customs, 158, 163

Church, the prayers of the, 81

Cicero, on religion, 27; on pru-
dence and intellectual quick-
ness, 224

Circular movement of the soul,
172, 203-210

Cleanness, 47, 184

Colere, 31

Collect for Friday in September
Ember Week, 147 ; for Trinity
Sunday, 147, 148

Compline, St. Thomas's devotion
at, 14

Communion of Saints, 158, 164

Conformity to the will of God,
86

Consecration, the Prayer of the,

147, 149. 150
Contemplation and the Contem-
plative Life: the meaning of
contemplation, 188, 189, 196,
201, 202, 211, 230, 234, 235,
237; it is something beautiful
in the soul, 1 84 ; not purely an
affair of the intellect, 179-182,
189; its relation to the affec-
tive powers, 211; the place
which reason occupies in con-
templation, 195, 210, 211, 225,
226, 249; the place occupied
by the imagination, 195; in
what sense contemplation in-
volves many acts, 187-192;
how far contemplation may
be described according to the
three species of motion — cir-
cular, direct, and oblique, 172,
203-210 ; contemplation is
natural to man, 2 10 ; it is

262 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

pleasurable, 211; it is prim-
arily concerned with God, 1 80,
241, 250; it does not, in this
present life, fall on the Divine
Essence as such, 199-203; its
ultimate goal, 180, 184, 187,
193, 194, 196, 198, 203, 229;
its ultimate goal in this life,
212, 220; how it is distin-
guished from meditation and
thought, 1 88 ; and from specu-
lation, 1 89 ; four integral parts
of contemplation, 193, 194;
four phases in it, 194; six
steps in it, 195, 196; the con-
templation of this present
life, 193, 213, 214; not on
earth as in Heaven, 176, 177,
217, 243; it is " beyond man,"
218; a busy life does not ex-
clude it, 238; it is lawful to
desire it, 240 ; contemplation
and ecstasy, 200; four sub-
jects of contemplation, 194;
the repose of contemplation,
in what it consists, 204, 205,
234, 235, 246

The Contemplative Life: its
meaning, 184, 186, 237, 250;
how it is distinguished from
the Active Life, 169, 173, 220,
234, 235 ; it is superior to the
Active Life, 233-240; it is
more meritorious than it, 240-
244; its great merit, 242 ; it is
prepared for in the Active
Life, 239, 245-249; the Active
Life precedes it, 249-252; the
Contemplative Life directs
the Active, 251; the relation
of the Contemplative Life to
the Theological virtues, 192;
and to the Moral virtues, 182-
1 86, 221, 222, 239 ; it demands
temperance, 184, 185; and
chastity, which it in turn fos-
ters, 184, 185; it calls for the
subjection of the passions, 1 84,
185, 289; it results in the sub-
jugation of the passions, 213;
it involves a certain liberty of
spirit, 234, 237; it is often
distasteful, 215, 216; it means

the sacrifice of our own soul,
244; its joys, 177, 197, 210-
216, 234, 248; its combats,
212, 213; it is imperfect here
on earth, 243; it is not in-
compatible with Prelacy, 236;
its relation to the office of
teaching, 236-239; it is not
meant for all, 235, 236, 239,
241, 251, 252; reading is
sometimes necessary for it,
190; how far it refrains from
all external actions, 182; it is
typified by Rachel, 174, 180,
184, 234, 242; also by Mary
of Bethany, 174, 190, 197,
234, 235, 248; it is foreshown
in Jacob's Vision, 231

Contemplative Religious Orders :
in what sense they are the
best, 253-257

Contemplatives, 32

Continence, a prayer for, 87

Conversation, sins of, no

Correction, fraternal, 97

Created things must serve as
stepping-stones, 193

Cross, Adoration of the, 37

Cultus, 31

Cyprian, St., on Our Father, not
My Father, 96

Damascene, St. John: on Won-
derment, 189; definitions of
prayer, 69, 71, 85, 142, 148

Dead, Prayers for the, 167, 168

Death, fear of, 83

Decii, the, 52

Defects, the thought of our,
causes devotion, 63, 64

Delights, earthly, as opposed to
heavenly, 215, 216

Denis the Areopagite, 24; on
sanctity, 49; on ecstasy, 55;
on beginning all with prayer,
70 ; on being co-workers with
God, 154; of the knowledge
of the Angels, 1 57 ; of the har-
mony in Divine things, 158;
that life implies motion, 171 ;
on the three movements of
the soul, 172, 203-210; of the
difference between the An-

Index

26'

gelic and the human intellect,
186; that the goal of contem-
plation is to attain to the
uniformity of the Divine con-
templation, 218; that in con-
templation here on earth we
do not see the Divine Essence,
200 ; on the illumination of
the Angels, 230 ; of the Divine
harmony, 255
Desires, their function and ne-
cessity, TJ, 91, 105

Devotion: defined, 51, 53, 55.
57, 64; is a special act, 51;
is due to an act of the will,
53, 57; is an act of the virtue
of Religion, 57; is the prin-
cipal act of the virtue of
Religion, 54; involves sacri-
fice of the heart, 64; it gives
a certain measure to human
acts, 52; it means prompti-
tude, 53, 55, 56, 57; two
causes of it, 57, 62, 63 ; caused
by meditation, 57; especially
by meditation on the Sacred
Passion, 59, 63; on the good-
ness of God, 58, 60; on our
own defects, 58, 60; obstacles
to it, 62; how far it may be
hindered by learning, 60 ; it
is productive of sorrow, 62-
64 ; but is not therefore to be
confounded with gloominess,
64, 65 ; it produces joy, 62,
63 ; devotion to the Saints,
57; the devotion of women,
59, 62; the "devout female
sex," 62

Direct movement of the soul,
the, 172, 210-213

Discretion, St. Antony on, 254,
257

Distractions, 127. Cj. s.v.
Prayer, distractions in

Divine Office, attention in the
recitation of, 128

Dulia, 39

Ecstasy, 4; Denis the Areopa-
gite on, 55; that of St. Paul,
199, 200

Ejaculatory prayers, 134, 135

Enemies, prayer for, 99; love of
our, 99

Eternity: the "repose" of, ?,6,
87, 92 ; the " silence " of, 87

Etymologies, those of St.
Thomas and St. Isidore, 24

Eucharist, the Holy : the Acci-
dents of, 9; St. Thomas's re-
ception of It as Viaticum, 15;
the " Chief " of the Sacra-
ments, 103; our "Daily
Bread," 103, 109; the rhythm,
A doro Te Devote, 112

Eusebeia, 31

Example, the force of, 222

Exterior religion, 45

External actions, 182, 183

Extraordinary ways of God, the,
3

Faber, Father, 2

Faith, 191, 192

Faith and Vision, 87

Fasting, 63

Fear, 189; the gift of fear, 34;

fear of death, 23 ; of Hell, 36
Female sex, the " devout," 62
" Forgive us our trespasses,"

no. III
Fossa Nuova, 14
Frederic, the Emperor, 8
Friendship, 56

Gifts of God, 92; of the Holy
Spirit, 105, 106

Gloom, not a characteristic of
the Saints, 64, 65

Gloss, the, on Holy Scripture,
24, 25

God: God alone, 92, 247; in
what sense we " adjure " Him
in our prayers, 148 ; by prayer
we become His beggars, 79,
no; He is not changed by
our prayers, 86, 107; does not
need our external acts of re-
ligion, 43, 46; His foreknow-
ledge involves no compulsion,
72 ; His goodness is a reason
for prayer, 107, 149; His Holi-
ness is a reason for prayer,
147; the harmony of Divine
things, 158, 159; He knows

264 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

beforehand what we seek, 80,
161 ; He knows the heart, 157;
the majesty of God, 189; the
Patience of God, 130; we do
not pray to Him alone, 80-84;
He does not always hear our
prayers, 142, 143; why He
wishes us to pray, 74, 86, 107,
138; He does not profit by
our service, 43 ; on seeking
after God, 54, 134, 179, 180,
183, 192; He is the First
Principle, 1 80 ; the Ultimate
End, 1 82 ; ultimate union with
Him, 109, 191 ; union with
Him, 69, 208; we can hope
for it, 240 ; hindrances to it,
103, 104; the Vision of God,
153, 15s. 163, 172, 177, 180,
181. Cf. s.v. Beatific Vision;
the Antecedent Will of God,
163

Greeks, On the Errors of the, St.
Thomas's treatise on, 14

Gregory tlie Great, St.: on Lia
as the type of the Active Life,
222, 225, 234, 242, 246; of
Martha and Mary as types of
the Active and the Contem-
plative Life respectively, 1 74 ;
on attention at prayer, 126;
on the intercession of the
Angels, 165; on the con-
formity of the Angels to God's
Will, 167; how the prayers of
the Saints avail, 167; that
the Contemplative Life is oc-
cupied with God alone. 180,
184, 192; that contemplation
in this life does not attain to
the Divine Essence, 199, 200;
that contemplation excludes
all images, 201; of St. Bene-
dict's vision, 202 ; on the true
sweetness of contemplation,
210; contemplation springs
from and leads to love of God,
212; on the combats of the
Contemplative Life, 212; that
knowledge of God brings
about the death of all carnal
desires, 213; of the joys of
the spiritual life, 215, 216; on I

disgust for spiritual things,
215, 216; of the Active Life,
221, 225; on teaching as fall-
ing under the Active Life, 226 ;
as due to contemplation, 227 ;
that the Active Life passes
away, not so the Contempla-
tive Life, 229; of the Contem-
plation of the Angels, 231 ; on
the instability of our present
contemplation, 232, 243; of
the merits of the Contempla-
tive Life, 240, 241 ; that those
who are Superiors can still
practise the Contemplative
Life, 236 ; that the Active Life
precedes the Contemplative,
224, 245, 249 ; of zeal for souls,
243, 244; of the necessity of
the Active Life, 250; contem-
plata aliis tradere, 254; that
the Blessed in Heaven know
our needs, 82; not all are
called to the Contemplative
Life, 251, 252

Gregory of Nyssa, St., of joys
and sorrows, 64

Gregory X., Pope, 14

Guidonis, Bernard, 6

Habits, 35, 251

Harmony of Divine things, 158,

159

Harmony of reason, the, 183

Heaven : there will be no books
in, iii; it is our "Father-
land," 166-168, 173

Holiness, 184

Hope, 191, 192

Hugo k St. Caro, 6, 25

Hugo of St. Victor's: on atten-
tion at prayer, 126; on inten-
sity, 126

Idolatry, 46

Images, veneration of, 37

Imagination, its function, 195,

201
Imprecations in Holy Scripture,

100
Indulgences, 168
Ingratitude, 94
" Insinuation " in prayer, 141

Index

265

Intelligence, quickness of, 224
Intellect, the noblest part of

man, 79, 80
Intention, 133
" Intercession " as a part of

prayer, 146
Intercession of the Saints, 161
Interior Spirit, the true, 247
Interpretive prayer, 163
Isaias, St. Thomas's Commen-
tary on, 10
Isidore of Seville, St. : his ety-
mologies, 24; on religion, 27;
on the word sanctns, 48 ; on
prayer, 68

Jacob's Vision, 231

Jeremias prays for the people,
though he is in Limbo, 115,
118, 162

Jerome, St.: on the error of
Vigilantius, who said the
prayers of the Martyrs were
not heard, 115, 162; on making
"a virtue of necessity'," 35;
on the term " supersubstan-
tial " Bread, 103

John of St. Julian, O.P., s

John XXII., Pope, 23

Josias, King of Juda, in Limbo,

155
Joy as an effect of devotion, 62
Joys of Contemplation, the, 210-

216
Justice, the chief of the Moral

Virtues, 37, 55, 221

, Knowledge, its relation to the
Moral Virtues, 182

Latria, 30, 34, 44

Leo the Great, St., on the Jews,
56

Lia, the type of the Active Life,
222, 225, 234, 242, 246

Liberty of Spirit, 237

Life: definitions of, 169, 170,
171, 187; considered as intel-
lectual, life may be divided
into the Active and the Con-
templative, 171, 174; cf. s.v.
Contemplative Life and Active
Life; the Active and Contem-

plative Life compared, 233-
257; the two Lives distin-
guished, 169-177; their rela-
tive order, 249-252; the
"mixed" life, 175, 185; the
Life of Beatitude, 191; the
bestial life, 175 ; the busy life,
175; the civil life, 175; the
leisurely life, 175, 185; the
pleasurable life, 175; the life
of repose, 172, 173; the life of
toil, 172, 173; the voluptuous
life, 176

Limbo, 118, 154-156

Litany of the Saints, 158

Living for Eternity, on, 83

Livy on the Decii, 5 1

Lombard, Peter, 25

Lord's Prayer, the : the seven
petitions of, 105-11 1 ; the most
perfect form of prayer, 105;
distractions in saying it, 132;
why we say Our Father, and
not My Father, 96; this
prayer is recited in the name
of the whole Church, 145 ; in
what sense we are tied to this
restricted form of prayer, 136,
137; the Lord's Prayer as a
subject of meditation, 192

Lyons, the Council of, St.
Thomas summoned to it, 14

Lyra, Nicolas de, his Gloss, 25

Martyrs : the prayers of the, 162-
164; merits of the Martj'rs,
256

Marvel, what it is to, 189

Mass, the: to be said distinctly,
122; the Prayers of, 147; the
Prayer of the Consecration in
the Mass, 149, 150

Maximus Valerius, On Socrates,

84
Meditation, 188, 190; causes
devotion, 57; produces sad-
ness as well as joy, 62-65 ; the
need of it, 61 ; not to be neg-
lected for vocal prayer, 123;
fruitful subjects for, 60 ; medi-
tation on the Sacred Passion,
59; on choosing subtle subjects
for meditation, 58, 60, 61

266 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Melancholy, no fruit of devo-
tion, 64, 65

Merit: definition oi, 166; source
of, 240; merits and rewards,
242; none in Heaven, 166,
243; of the Active and Con-
templative Life, 240-244; the
merit of prayer, 141 ; those of
the Saints, 163; how we can
merit for others, 141

Military Religious Orders, 256

Monica, St., 123

Monte Cassino, 4

Moral Acts, their nature, 225

Moral Virtues, the: Justice is
the chief of the moral virtues,
221; requisites for the moral
virtues, 41 ; their place in the
Contemplative Life 182-186;
their function, 41, 43, 183-
185; their part in the Active
Life, 220-226; how far they
remain after death, 230

Movements of the soul, the
three, 172, 203-210

Mysticism, 1-3

Necessity, to make a virtue of,

35. 44

Nestorius's error concerning the
Person of Christ, 161

Novelty of St. Thomas's teach-
ing, 6, 7

" Obsecration " as a part of

prayer, 147-149
Observance, strictness of, 257
Occultism, 3
Office, attention at the Divine,

128
Origen on sanctity, 47; on not

swearing, 148

Passion, Meditation on the

Sacred, 59, 63, 128
Perfection, 44
Peter Lombard, 25
Philosophy is better than riches,

236
PosiillcB, 24
Prayer to St. Thomas before

study, A, 16

Prayer: defined, 68, 69, 76, 78,

85, 102, 105, 127, 136, 148;
it is an act, 161; not an act
of the appetitive powers, 68,

71, 7j; it is an act of the
virtue of religion, 76-80, 161;
after devotion, prayer is the
highest act of the virtue of
religion, 77; it is a conversa-
tion with God, 74; by it we
become God's beggars, no;
it is peculiar to the rational
creation, 112-114; in what
sense the brute creatures pray,
114; prayer is a gift from
God, 139; three requisites for
prayer, 146; four requisites
for prayer, 138; the real mean-
ing of " petition," 78, 79; the
prayer of desire, 92, 105; in
what sense desire is not
prayer, 77, 78; prayer is a
real cause, 72, 74, 166

Why we should pray :
prayer is reasonable, 71-76,
107, 120, 147; the merit of
prayer, 125, 137-143; the
efEects of prayer, 71, 120, 125,
132, 138; prayer causes union
with God, 70, 71

Errors concerning prayer: in
general, 72; it is not an ad-
juring of God, 148; it never
wearies God, 79, 80; "much
speaking" in prayer, 135; it
cannot change God's decrees,

72, 73, 86, 107, 161; it does
not "bend" His will. 86;
God knows beforehand what
we would pray for, 73, 75, 80,

86, 120

Of prayers heard and un-
heard : the condition neces-
sary if our prayers are to be
heard, 89, 96, 141, 144; of
prayers heard in anger, 142,
143 ; in what sense the prayers
of sinners are heard, 143-146;
the prayers of the poor are
speedily heard, 69; how the
prayers of the Saints are
heard, 162, 168; the prayers
of the Martyrs and Apostles,

Index

267

162, 163 ; why prayers are not
heard, 142; of unheard
prayers, 140 ; why our prayers
for others are sometimes not
heard, 96; in what sense the
prayers of sinners are heard,
143-146

How we should pray ; at
regular intervals, 134; our
attitude in prayer, 1 50, 151;
beginning occupations with
prayer, 70; prayer "without
ceasing," 91, 137; attention at
prayer, 125 ; three kinds of at-
tention, 120, 133; distractions,
121, 127-133; the length of
our prayers, 133-137; hin-
drances to prayer, 75; the
recitation of Psalms, 123;
prayer " in spirit and in
truth," 126; weariness in
prayer, 134

What we should pray for:
the impetratory value of
prayer, 138, 141; what we
should pray for in general,
129, 142; for Beatitude, 85-
87 ; prayer for definite things,
84-88; for "sufficiency of
life," 89; against death, 83;
for continence, 87 ; for know-
ledge of Holy Scripture, 88;
for deliverance from tooth-
ache, 92, 94; for others, 95,
97, 98, 229; for the wicked,
97 ; for the good, 98 ; for our
inferiors, 98; for temporal
blessings, 89-95 ; for the pre-
destinate, 167; for our ene-
mies, 99-102; the Saints in
Heaven pray for the resurrec-
tion of their bodies, 116

To whom we should pray:
not to God alone, 80-84 ; to the
Angels, 81 ; to the Saints, 1 57-
161 ; to the lesser Saints, 117
Who pray for us, and how:
the Angels pray for us, how,
114; in what sense the Son
and the Holy Spirit are said
to pray, 113, 115; how the
Holy Spirit helps our prayers,
85 ; the Saints pray for us,

1 15-118; how, 156, 163, 166,
167 ; how we merit the prayers
of the Saints, 162; how our
prayers a,re known to the
Saints, 152-157; those in
Limbo prayed for those on
earth, 118; those in Purga-
tory cannot pray for us, 117

Divers forms of prayer :
vocal prayer, 1 19-125; ejacu-
latory prayer, 134, 135;
prayer in secret, 121; prayer
of the heart, 124; thanks-
giving as a part of prayer,
149; postulations as a part of
prayer, 146-148

The Lord's Prayer: we say
not "my Father," but "our
Father," 96; the seven peti-
tions of the Lord's Prayer,
102-111; the Lord's Prayer
not said without distractions,
132; in what sense we are tied
to the Lord's Prayer as a
formula, 136, 137

The Church's prayers : in
general, 76, 147, 158; public
and private prayers, 119, 121,
122, 135 ; how the prayer " of
many " avails, 98; the prayer
of the Consecration at Mass,

149. 150

Prelates and Contemplative Life,
236

Prosper, St., the Book of Sen-
tences Gleaned from St. Augus-
tine, 140

Prudence : its relation to the
other Moral Virtues, 224; it is
requisite for the Active Life,
223-226

Purity of soul, 252

Purgatory : why the suffrages of
the Church do not empty it
at once, 167, 168; the souls in
Purgatory do not know our
needs, 83 ; neither do they
pray for us, 83, 116, 118;
Brother Romanus passed six-
teen days in Purgatory, 12

Rabanus Maurus: his Gloss, 25;
on Prayer, 69

268 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Rachel, a type of the Contem-
plative Life, 163, 174, 180,
184, 234, 242

Reading necessary for prayer,
190

Reason: its function, 206; the
higher and the lower, 249;
the speculative and the prac-
tical, 68

Religion: the virtue of, 27-50;
that it is a virtue, 34; defini-
tion of, 27-31, 39, 49; its
principle is charity, $6; it is
one virtue, 35; and a Moral
Virtue, 40 ; and a special
virtue, 37-39; not a Theo-
logical Virtue, 39; the via
media in, 41 ; the harmony of,
42 ; is superior to the other
Moral Virtues, 42; is not for
God's profit, but for ours, 43 ;
demands external acts, 44;
how far it is identified with
sanctity, 47-50

Religious Orders, the Active and
Contemplative compared, 253-
257

Religious people, 31, 50, 61;
they are not always Saints, 50

Reposeful characters, 252

Romanus, Brother, appears to
St. Thomas, X2

Sacrifice, the real nature of, 38,
46, 244

Saints, the: what it is to be a
Saint, 50; they are not
gloomy, 64, 65 ; their know-
ledge of our needs, 82, 152-
157; their prayers for us, 115-
118; they feel no grief for us
on earth, 155; their wills are
perfectly conformed to that
of God, 116, 156, 163, 165,
167; the Communion of
Saints, 158, 164; we ought to
pray to them, 157-161; of
devotion to the Saints, 57; to
the lesser Saints, 117, 160;
they are co-workers with God,
154; in what sense their
prayers arc always heard,
158, 162-168; their merits.

163, 166; how they pray for

us, 163, 167
" Saint of Saints, The," 160
Scripture, prayer for knowledge

ot Holy, 88
Seneca: on petitions, 74; on

idolatry, 46
Sentences, the Book of, 6, 25
Sinners, prayer for: 97; the

prayers of sinners, 143-146
Sins of conversation, 1 10
Socrates on prayer, 84
Solicitude, how far it is for-
bidden, 90
Sorrow, as an effect of devotion,

62, 64
Speculation, 189
Spirit, the Holy, how He helps

us to pray, 85
" Spirit and truth," prayer in,

126, 127
Spiritualism, 3
Stability implied in the notion

of sanctity, 49
Strabo, Walafrid, his Gloss, 24
Strictness of life not an end in

itself, 257
" Sufficiency of life," prayer for,

89
Suffrages for the Dead, 167,

168
Summa Theologica : the broad

divisions of, 19, 20; the

method employed in, 21, 22;

the Teriia Pars, 13
Superiors and Contemplation,

238
Supererogation, works of, 44
Superstition, 42
Supersubstantial Bread. 103
Supplications as a part of

prayer, 146
Swearing, Origen on, 148

Teaching: in what it consists,
227, 228; due to Contempla-
tion, 227; how far it belongs
to the Active Life, 226-229;
the beauty of the teaching
life, 227; how the Angels
teach, 231

Temperance: a necessity for the
Contemplative Life, 184, 185;

Index

269

how far it is identical with
sanctity, 50

Temporal things: the part they
play in our life, 89; they
are "stepping-stones" to
Heaven, 91; how far they
may be asked for, 89-95

Thanksgivings as part of prayer,

147

Theological Virtues, the, 39-41 >
191, 192

Theosebeia, 31

Thomas Aquinas, St. : born at
Rocca Secca, 4; his early oc-
cupation with Divine things,
5; goes to Monte Cassino, 4;
to Naples University, 5 ; re-
ceives the habit of the Friars
Preachers, 5 ; is sent to Santa
Sabina, 5 ; is imprisoned, and
studies the Bible, the Sen-
tences, and the Philosophy of
Aristotle, 6 ; is created Bache-
lor in Theology, 6 ; the novelty
of his teaching, 7, 8; created
Master in Theology, 7 ; says
he would prefer to possess St.
Chrysostom's Commentaries
on the Gospel according to
St. Matthew to the possession
of the city of Paris, 10 ; hears
from Our Lord's lips. Bene
scripsisti de Me, Thoma, 10 ;
his three petitions, 8 ; his
prayer before study, 8-1 1; is
visited by St. Peter and St.
Paul, who explain to him a
passage of Isaias, 1 1 ; Brother
Romanus appears to him, 12;
his approaching end is re-
vealed to him, 12, 13; the
Crucifix speaks to him, 13;
he ceases to write, 14; his
emotion on hearing the words,
Ne projicias nos, sung, 14; is
summoned to the Council of

Lyons, 14; his faith in the
Holy Eucharist, 9, 15; his
dying words, 15; his rhythm,
A doro Te Devote, 112; the
method of his teaching, 19;
his teaching is regarded as
miraculous, 23; his use of the
works of the Fathers, 16, 18,
23 ; his teaching and that of
St. Augustine, 16-18; his self-
eftacement, 23
Tocco, William of, biographer
of St. Thomas, 5 note, 6, 8, 9,

II, 15
Toothache: St. Thomas's de-
liverance from it, 93 ; St.
Augustine's deliverance from

it, 93
Trinity, the Holy : how to pray,
to, 81 ; the Collect for Trinity
Sunday, 147

Union with God, 3, 197, 198.
Cf. s.v. God

Valgornera, Theologia Mystica, 1
Via media in religion, 41
Vigilantius's errors regarding

prayer, 117, 162
Virginity, 50
Virgins, the five wise and the

five foolish, 247
Virtue: definition of, 34; its

praiseworthy character, 43 ;

it lies in the will, 43

Walafrid Strabo, his Gloss, 24

Will: the object of the, 57; its

functions, 52, 70; the part it

plays in the Contemplative

Life, 179-181

Women, the natural devotion of,

59
Worship: in what it consists, 41

Zeal for souls, 243, 244

INDEX OF TEXTS QUOTED OR
EXPLAINED

Genesis.

FAGES

FACES

I'AGES

xvi. 20-23

.

210

liv. 23 . . .

• 95

xxix. 17 . . .184

xxxi. 14 .

,

226

Ivii. II . . .

. 100

xxxii. 30-32 200. 214

xxxi. 23 .

• •

236

Iviii. 7 . . .
Ixv. 8-12 . .

• 43

232

Exodus.

iii. 6 . . . .117
iii. 14 • . . .176
xiii. 6 . . . .117
xix. 21 . 136, 237
XX. 1-17 ... 42
XXXV. 20, 21 . . 52

Psalms.

V. 5 ....
vi. 7 . . . .
vi. 1 1 . . . .
X. 17 ... .

XV. 2 . . . .

XV. 5 . . . .

177
151
99
69
43
32

Ixvi. . . .
Ixx. 17, 18 .
Ixx. 20 . . .
Ixxii. 21-28 .
Ixxii. 28 . .
Ixxv. 4, 5 . .
Ixxvi. I . .
Ixxvi. 4 . .

84
76

14
192

58
129

32
62

XV. 5.6 .

172
120

Ixxix. 4

85

I Kings.

XV. 9 . .

Ixxxiii. 3 . .

44

i. 18 . . . .120

XV. II. .

177

Ixxxiii. 12

81

XV. 19 . . . . Jl

xvi. 6-9 .

252

Ixxxv. 1-5 . .

125

xxiv. 6-1 1

177

xciv. 3 . . .

46

2 Kings.

xxvi. 4 70,
xxvi. 5

136

197
240

xcvi. 7 . . .
cii. I -1 5 . .

113
249

vii. 18 . . . .150

xxvi. 8 . .

120

ciii. 33, 34. .

80

xxxii. 20, 21

137

cxviii. 35 . ,

8?

3 Kings.

xxxiii. 9 .
xxxiv. 13 .

211,
• 97.

216
137

cxviii. 145 . .
cxx. I, 2 . .

124

58

xviii. 42 , . . 1 50

XXXV. 7

235

cxx. 4 . . .

80

xxxvi. 23-25

146

cxxxviii. 14 .

194

4 Kings.

xxxvii. 10 .
xxxviii. 4 .

91

57

cxl. 2 . . .
cxli. I . . .

76
119

xxii. 50 . . .155

xxxviii. 13

'68,

143

cxlii. 4-7 . .

132

xxxix. 13 .

120

cxlii. 5,6. .

194

2 Paralipomenon.

xli. 3 . .
xli. 1-6 . .

63
182

cxliii. 15 . . .
cxliv. 13 , .

191

104

xxix. 31 ... 52

xlv. II. .

235.

246

cxlv. I . . .

130

xlvii. 9 .

13

cxlvi. 9 . .

114

Job.

xlvii. 9, 10,

IS •

238

xlix. 13

46

Proverbs.

V. I . . 80, 157

1. 19 . .

64

xxviii. 8 . .

144

XIV. 21 . . . .152

liv. 1-7 , .

150

XXX. 8 . . .

89

270

Index of Texts Quoted or Explained 271

ECCLESIASTES.

PAGES

vii. 14 . . . . 97

Wisdom.

vii. 7 . . . .190
viii. 3 , . . .185
viii. 16 171, 204, 210
ix. 15 . . 132, 213
XV. 1-3 . . . . 244

ECCLESIASTICUS.

xxviii. 2 . . .146
XXX. 24 . . . 244
xxxvi. 1-3 . . 102
xxxvi. 16-19 . . 1 14
xli. 1-6 . . . . 223
xliii. 33 ... 41

ISAIAS.

xii. 1-6 .
xxv. 8, 9
xxvi. 3, 4,
xxxii. 17
xxxiii. 13-
xlvi. 10
Iviii. 5 .
Ixiii. 15,11
Ixiv. 8, 9
Ixv. 24 .

17

, . 210

. 198

9 . 201

.184
, . 181

, . 104

, . 256

88, 154

• • 71
. . 70

Jeremias.

vii. 16 . . . . 97

xiv. 8, 9 . . .186

XV. I . . . 96, 164

xxxi. 34 . . .231

Lamentations.

111. 19

Daniel.

IX. 14 ,
ix. 18, 19 .

X. 12, 13 .

63

160
147
165

OSEE.

xiv. 3 . . . . I20

Habacuc.
ii. 4 ...

Malachi.

PAGES
. 190

i. 6 36

iii. 14 .... 72

2 Maccabees.

XV. 14

115, 162

St. Matthew.

V. 8
V. 44
vi. 6
vi. 7
vi. 8
vi. 9
vi. 9-13
vi. 25
vi. 32

vi. 33
vii. 7
xviii. 10
xxii. 30
XXV. 3, 4

157

184

99

121

135
80

136
84
90

73
90

78
231

165
247

St. Luke.

1. 49 •
i- 74, 75
vi. 12
vi. 13
ix. 55
X. 39
X. 40
X. 41
X. 42

216,

X. 43 • •
xi. 2-4 . .
XV. 13-16 .
xviii. I 71
xxii. 43 .

104

47

135

139

57

190

241

234, 248

233. 248,

253

• • 235
. 84, 106
. . 61
133, 137

• • 135

IX. 31
xi. 3
xiv. 8
xiv. 16
xvi. 23
xvii. 1-5
xvii. 24
xix. 1-5.
xxi. 22 .

Ill

Acts.

vii. 59 .
XV. 9 .
XX. 36 .

PAGES
144
146

"3
96

. 177
98

56

243

151

177

151

Romans.

1. 20
vii. 24
viii. 26
viii. 31
viii. 38,
ix. 3
xiii. 10
XV. 4
XV. 30

39

45- 193
. 213

113. 198
32
48
241

183
99
98, 158

I Corinthians.

St. John.

IV. 24

V. 16

45, 85, 126
. . . 95

1. II
iii. 8
iv. 5
vi. 9
ix. 16
X. 31
xii. 31
xiii. 8
xiii. 12
xiv. 14
xiv. IS

10

176

98

242

177
104

44
134
237
217

.213

126

82

2 Corinthians.

111. 18
iv. 18
V. 6
V. 6, 7
V. 15
X. 31
xii. 7-9

189
90

131
190

239

38

139

«L-r i^.'

U ^

272 On Prayer and the Contemplative Life

Galatians.

PAGES

iv. 14 . . . . 32
V. 13 .... 30

Ephesians.

i. 4 76

iv. 5,6. . . . 35

Philippians.

iii. 20 .... 65
iv. 7 .... 198

COLOSSIANS.

iii. 3, 4 • . . .176

I Thessalonians
V. 17

I Timothy

PAGES

91. ^33. 137

1. 5
ii. I
ii. 4

. . 191
146, 147
. . 86

2 Timothy.
iii. 5 . . . . 144

Hebrews.

111., IV. V.

vii. 25 .

X. 20 .

xii. 4 .

xii. 14 .

. 92

. IIS

. 248

. 256

48, 184

St. James.

i. 6 .
i. 27
iv. 3
V. 16

PAGES
. 141
. 28
. 85

• 95

I St. John.

iii. 2 .176, 197, 231
iv. 19 . . . . 107
V. 16 .... 97

Apocalypse.

VI. 10 .
vi. 1 1 .
viii. 4 .

XV. I .

xxii. 17

00, 164
. 164
. 81
. 164
. 244

THE END

Printed in England

B 765 .T51 1914 SMC

Thomas,

On prayer and the

contemplative life

...liip iiii